With so much medical research funded by pharmaceutical companies and others with a financial interest in the outcome, it can be hard to avoid conflicts of interest. Years ago, Harvard Medical School revamped its policy on professors reporting potential conflicts of interest after critics, including many students, claimed the old rules were too lax and hid the financial ties many professors had to the manufacturers of the drugs they researched and discussed in class. In an article about a new study published in JAMA on how statins do in fact lead to muscle pain in some patients, the Washington Post gives recognition to Dr. Steven E. Nissen’s approach to minimizing such conflicts.
One can see the potential for conflict in how JAMA describes the role of one of the drugs’ manufacturers:
Read the rest of this post →This study was funded by Amgen Inc.[, which] was involved in the design and conduct of the study, selected the investigators, monitored the trial, and collected and managed the trial data. The sponsor participated in the decision to publish the study and committed to publication of the results prior to unblinding the trial. The sponsor maintained the trial database and transferred a complete copy to the Cleveland Clinic Center for Clinical Research and the sponsor to facilitate independent analyses. The sponsor had the right to comment on the manuscript, but final decisions on content rested with the academic authors.