“Research led by Lisa Bero of the University of California-San Francisco studied the results of 192 trials assessing how well various cholesterol-lowering statin drugs worked compared to one another.In analysing the results, she noted that studies that produced favourable outcomes toward given statins were more than 20 times as likely to have been funded by that drug’s manufacturer rather than the company that made the drug to which it was being compared. In addition, trials in which the investigators included favourable subjective conclusions or interpretations of statistical results were nearly 35 times more likely to have been funded by the drug’s manufacturer, Bero’s team added.” – Reuters

Drug companies’ trial results are biased – claim researchers
On Medica, UK (Reuters)
June 06, 2007

A US study has revealed bias in company-sponsored studies.

Research led by Lisa Bero of the University of California-San Francisco studied the results of 192 trials assessing how well various cholesterol-lowering statin drugs worked compared to one another.

In analysing the results, she noted that studies that produced favourable outcomes toward given statins were more than 20 times as likely to have been funded by that drug’s manufacturer rather than the company that made the drug to which it was being compared.

In addition, trials in which the investigators included favourable subjective conclusions or interpretations of statistical results were nearly 35 times more likely to have been funded by the drug’s manufacturer, Bero’s team added.

The researchers cited design flaws in many company-funded trials like not ensuring that investigators conducting them were unaware of which patients were getting which drugs until the end of the trial.

“It’s not like they’re all poorly designed,” Bero said, “But, on the other hand, a lot of them are designed in ways that can make the sponsor’s drug look better.”

Bero said the bias may stem from actions such as not publishing studies with unfavourable results, or comparing a high dose of a test drug against a low dose of a comparison drug to make the test drug look more effective.

But Alan Goldhammer, deputy vice president for regulatory affairs for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said drug makers are unable to use information from trials without FDA approval.

“It’s an insult to the integrity of the Food and Drug Administration to imply that they’re casting a blind eye on industry-sponsored clinical trials,” he said.

The study appeared in the Public Library of Science journal PLos Medicine.

Don’t think for 1 minute that the drug companies have your best interest in mind.  They want you to stay sick and dependent on thier drugs – it makes them money.  Also, if one drug fails, chanes are, you are just going to look for another drug that “may” work, which is typically produced by the same company.  Nearly 100 years ago, BJ Palmer – the developer of chiropractic had this to say:
“During our many world-wide travels, we visited Halemaumau or Kilauea, at Hilo, Hawaiian Islands. That pit is 4-1/2 miles across and was 1,000 feet deep. Within 24 hours, we saw “nature” erupt and fill that crater up to, and overflow the Surrounding terrain. Great is the power of “nature.” That evening, at the Volcano House, we read in the Hilo newspaper an ad which said: “Take Carter’s Little Liver Pills to assist nature!” We thought: If nature could do what she did without a Carter’s Little Liver Pill, what would she have done if one had been dropped into that crater!”

– Trust Nature and Trust your Innate Wisdom

Life & Light,
Kevin