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February 06, 2007
Pharmacy Across Borders
Source: Toronto Globe and Mail- January/07
Description of Issue:
A Danish study has found some drug manufacturers have suppressed negative data and modified results to put their product in a positive light. A team of European and Canadian researchers investigated 44 trials carried out in Denmark in the 1990's. They discovered that drug company employees were directly involved in 33 of these trials, but their names did not appear in the list of authors, or contributors when the studies were published. In effect, company employees were "ghost authors" of many studies. An-Wen Chan (U. Toronto) believes keeping names secret provides a misleading impression of who really conducted and interpreted the study.
Implications to Pharmacy/Practice:
Although researchers for this study looked at only Danish trials, they believe ghost authorship is a global research problem. Some would argue that you could come to just about any conclusion you want from a particular study. And, for that reason, it is important to know who is doing the analyses- and if that person has a hidden agenda. In Pharmacy research, there is an assumption of pharmacy companies maintaining an arm's length relationship with researchers to ensure findings are free of bias.
Posted by mmacneil at February 6, 2007 08:19 PM