Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20490338›Full record

SynthesisDeutsches Arzteblatt international2010

The financing of drug trials by pharmaceutical companies and its consequences: part 2: a qualitative, systematic review of the literature on possible influences on authorship, access to trial data, and trial registration and publication.

Gisela Schott, Henry Pachl, Ulrich Limbach, Ursula Gundert-Remy, Klaus Lieb, Wolf-Dieter Ludwig

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Janus kinase-1 and Janus kinase-2 inhibitors for treating myelofibrosis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Observational
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. A Proposal to Increase Value and Equity in the Development and Distribution of New Pharmaceuticals.International journal of health services : planning, administration, evaluation · 2022
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. The epistemic integrity of scientific research.Science and engineering ethics · 2013
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Gisela SchottArzneimittelkommission der deutschen Arzteschaft, Herbert-Lewin-Platz 1, 10623 Berlin, Germany. gisela.schott@akdae.de
Henry Pachl
Ulrich Limbach
Ursula Gundert-Remy
Klaus Lieb
Wolf-Dieter Ludwig

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn recent years, a number of studies have shown that clinical drug trials financed by pharmaceutical companies yield favorable results for company products more often than independent trials do. Moreover, pharmaceutical companies have been found to influence drug trials in various ways. This overview of current, systematic studies on this topic is intended to identify and characterize the particular aspects of the performance of a drug trial that can be affected by financial support from a pharmaceutical company.

methodsPublications retrieved from a systematic Medline search on this topic from 1 November 2002 to 16 December 2009 were independently evaluated and selected by two of the authors. These publications were supplemented by further ones found in their references sections.

results57 publications were included for evaluation in Parts 1 and 2 of this article. A number of studies revealed that many trials financed by pharmaceutical companies-in some cases, as many as half of all such trials-are never published. Moreover, multiple publications of the same findings were found, and some reports were found to include selectively published data. Further studies revealed evidence of other problems including incomplete trial registration, constraints on publishing rights, withheld knowledge of adverse drug reactions, and the use of ghostwriters who were supplied by the pharmaceutical companies.

conclusionFinancial support from a pharmaceutical company influences multiple aspects of the performance of drug trials and often leads to a favorable result for the corporate sponsor of the trial. Public access to trial protocols and results must be ensured. Moreover, more effort should be made to carry out drug trials independently, without the financial support of pharmaceutical companies.

Indexed as

AuthorshipClinical Trials as TopicData CollectionDrug IndustryPublishingResearch Support as TopicAccess to InformationConflict of InterestGermanyHumans

Identifiers

PMID20490338
PMCPMC2872821

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.