Impugning the Integrity of Medical Science
The Adverse Effects of Industry Influence
- Catherine D. DeAngelis, MD, MPH;
- Phil B. Fontanarosa, MD, MBA
- Author Affiliations: Dr DeAngelis is Editor in Chief (cathy.deangelis@jama-archives.org) and Dr Fontanarosa is Executive Deputy Editor, JAMA.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- AUTHORSHIP
- CLINICAL TRIALS AS TOPIC
- DATA INTERPRETATION, STATISTICAL
- DISCLOSURE
- DRUG INDUSTRY
- DRUG REACTION, ADVERSE
- ETHICS, RESEARCH
- JOURNALISM, MEDICAL
- PEER REVIEW, RESEARCH
- RESEARCH
- RESEARCH SUPPORT AS TOPIC
- ROFECOXIB
The profession of medicine, in every aspect—clinical, education, and research—has been inundated with profound influence from the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. This has occurred because physicians have allowed it to happen, and it is time to stop.
Two articles1,2 in this issue of JAMA provide a glimpse of one company's apparent misrepresentation of research data and its manipulation of clinical research articles and clinical reviews; such information and articles influence the education and clinical practice of physicians and other health professionals. The direct influence of for-profit companies on education3,4,5,6 and clinical practice7,8 has been well documented, so this Editorial deals primarily with clinical research.
The articles by Ross and colleagues1 and by Psaty and Kronmal2 document how one company, Merck & Co Inc, apparently manipulated dozens of publications to promote one of its products. …
