Pharmaceutical Company Sponsorship of Drug Studies

Q:  I just read that several medical journals have concluded that they are changing the criteria by which they accept papers published with research funding supplied by pharmaceutical companies. Does this mean that some of the medications we take are less effective than advertised or even harmful or that the information presented has been compromised by a profit motive?

A:  The Food and Drug Administration carefully screens all medications available in the United States. They are charged with protecting the safety and well-being of all Americans using any form of medications. There is a lengthy process required for approval of new therapies involving animal and then human subjects to ensure that the medication no only is effective, but safe as well. The record of the FDA in both categories is nothing less than stellar when one looks at global experience with pharmaceuticals in America.

Having said that, pharmaceutical companies have a vested interest in having the medications that they are developing available for sale. Scientific studies are required for that to occur and those same studies aid the FDA in its determinations. Scientists in academic centers structure clinical trials to determine whether or not a new medication that has been formulated and given to nonhuman subjects is safe and effective for the general public. These trials are done with the full knowledge of the participants and their responses carefully monitored with few untoward events occurring.

In order to maintain credibility, several journals are taking steps to require that investigators more clearly reveal the relationships that investigators have with the drug industry.

From a patient perspective, it’s still quite reasonable to trust the systems in the United States that develop and approve medications for the general public. At the same time, we all ought to be diligent about recognizing relationships that could compromise that process and make changes when appropriate. Even more so, it’s my recommendation that patients do everything humanly possible to diminish the need for any prescription medications. Lose weight, exercise, don’t smoke, have appropriate medical exams to screen for and prevent illnesses. A healthy lifestyle is a wonderful substitute for a medicine cabinet full of expensive medications.

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