New England Journal admits drug reviews tainted by authors' connection with pharmaceuticals |
| The prestigious medical journal,
the New England Journal of Medicine disclosed to readers that over the
past three years, 19 of their drug treatment reviews had been written by
doctors with financial ties to the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing
the drugs they were reviewing. The Journal appologized to its readers in
Thursday's issue. Dr Marcia Angell, the editor in chief stated, in
an interview that she felt it was carelessness on the part of the journal.
However, an internal investigation prompted by a news report about one such violation of ethical journalism, said that the journal had actually sought doctors affiliated with the drug companies making the drugs to do the reviews. The violations involve the journal's "Drug Therapy" feature, a series of reviews of the latest drug treatments for particular illnesses. In each case, the journal failed to disqualify authors even though they had revealed their financial ties up front, Angell said. The 19 articles cited as evidencing a conflict of interest between the doctor authors and the drug companies, involved several drug makers, ranging from little-known biotech companies to pharmaceutical giants like Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck & Co., Pharmacia & Upjohn and Wyeth-Ayerst. Angell claims that steps are being taken so this will not happen again. It's interesting to note that the
New England Journal of Medicine refused to publish any studies on the abortion/breast
cancer link except the very flawed Melbye study.
Source: AP release |
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