Drug
companies more often sponsor research; Many such studies
have positive findings for their products
Drug companies are increasingly funding medical studies, which
often bring positive results for their own products, according to
USA Today . Researchers on Wednesday at an
American
Psychiatric Association conference in
Toronto reported that in 2002, 57% of drug studies published in
medical journals were funded by drug companies, compared with 25%
with 1992. Igor Galynker of
Beth Israel
Medical Center in New York City led
the study, which examined studies on psychiatric drugs published in
four medical journals: the
American Journal of Psychiatry,
the Archives of
General Psychiatry,
the Journal of
Clinical Psychiatry
and the Journal of
Clinical Psychopharmacology.
Reviewers were not told who paid for the studies. Galynker said the
findings show a favored outcome for the drugs being studied in
approximately:
Eight
out of 10 studies that were paid for by the company that makes the
drug;
Five of
10 studies that were conducted with no industry support; and
Three
out of 10 studies funded by competitors manufacturing a competing
product.
The findings do not prove that drug companies are conducting biased
studies, according to study co-author Robert Kelly, also with Beth
Israel. Nonetheless, some health experts are beginning to encourage
publicly funded medical studies. Sidney Wolfe, director of the
Health Research
Group at
Public Citizen,
called for the government to fund more research (Elias, USA
Today, 5/25).