Economy/Business News Alert

Can drug research still be trusted?

Arguably the most prestigious medical journal in the world, the New England Journal of Medicine regularly features articles over which pharmaceutical companies and their employees can exert significant influence, a Washington Post investigation has found.

Over a year-long period ending in August, about two-thirds of the articles on new drugs published in the Journal were co-written by employees of the companies that made the drugs, a Post analysis has found.

The Journal's reliance on industry research, despite notable examples of potentially lethal bias, reflects the ability of pharmaceutical companies to shape science and influence what doctors prescribe for their patients.

Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-drug-industrys-influence-over-research-grows-so-does-the-potential-for-bias/2012/11/24/bb64d596-1264-11e2-be82-c3411b7680a9_story.html

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