Despite journal editors' efforts to crack down on ill-doings and conflicts of interest in the studies they publish, the Wall Street Journal reports that malfeasance is still rampant. One clip from the article (subscription req'd):
- Several major pharmaceutical companies are withholding important details about clinical drug trials, despite urging from federal regulators and medical-journal editors to be more forthcoming, according to a study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.
The study says that companies including Merck & Co., Pfizer Inc., and GlaxoSmithKline PLC are obscuring basic information -- including the names of some drugs under study -- in reporting on trials of drugs to treat serious or life-threatening diseases. Some of the drugs involved are already on the market, and the companies are seeking approval for new uses of them. In an editorial, the medical journal calls for investigators and patients to avoid participating in drug trials where companies take a secretive approach.
