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To the Editor: Mr Dana and Dr Loewenstein¹ stated that "Performing industry-supported research, physicians face an implicit demand for a positive finding to obtain further financial support." I have been responsible for several thousand registration trials, carried out in approximately 50 countries for 4 major pharmaceutical companies, and I have never known investigators to be selected on the basis of their results. Investigators are selected according to a number of criteria, including experience in conducting clinical trials, ability to recruit the type and number of patients needed in the agreed-upon time, the production of complete and accurate data, and an optimal clinical research infrastructure.

Furthermore, most trials involve several centers, so that the findings from any given center are statistically irrelevant and infrequently decide the outcome of a trial. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to conduct a multicenter study including only investigators who produce positive findings. It . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Michael Tansey, MD
Competitive Drug Development Inc
Jersey City, NJ

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