Hi, all

There's a very timely article in the latest Discover magazine that arrived in my mailbox today: "One Doc's Drug Complaint"--an interview with physician John Abramson by Brad Lemley. (p. 16-17). A couple of relevant quotes:

"Question: Is there any proof that privately funded studies are biased?
Answer: When you look at the highest quality medical studies, the odds that a study will favor the use of a new drug are 5.3 times higher for commercially funded studies. Drug companies are also sponsoring about 70% of the continuing education that doctors are required to participate in to keep their licenses to practice.
......

Question: Is it true there is no requirement to release all the data in a privately funded study?
Answer: Yes. Not only that, all the authors of journal articles don't even get to see all the data. In 2001 the editors of the 12 leading medical journals decried what they described as a "draconian" situation for academic researchers, but even that extraordinary joint statement went largely unheeded. Now universities have been forced into what's been called a race to the ethical bottom. If they don't conform, they will lose out altogether to the for-profit research companies.

Question: What do you recommend?
Answer: All the authors have to have free access to all the data when they write a journal article. If the authors of those articles had to sign off and say they saw all the data and they are responsible for the article being a full, unbiased representation of it, I think you would see some of this stop.

Question: Is that all?
Answer: The most important step is that we need some disinterested body--perhaps the Institute of Medicine working with the FDA or maybe a new, independent body modeled after the Federal Reserve Board--that has complete access to research design, all data, and all analyses and can then certify the integrity of the conclusions that are drawn from that study. ... The journals play a central role in American medicine, and they have to realize that what they publish has real consequences."

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Me again. Nowhere does the article mention formula, but what he says sure does hit the mark. Seems like it might just be relevant to pacifier research as well.... Check the article out!

Melissa Vickers, IBCLC
Huntingdon, TN

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