Studies That Find Drugs Don't Work Seldom Get the Attention They Deserve

Fair use excerpt of Reuters Report "Unfavorable drug studies don't get into print: report":

Nearly a third of antidepressant drug studies are never published in the medical literature and nearly all happen to show that the drug being tested did not work, researchers reported on Wednesday.

In some of the studies that are published, unfavorable results have been recast to make the medicine appear more effective than it really is, said the research team led by Erick Turner of the Oregon Health & Science University.

Even if not deliberate, this can be bad news for patients, they wrote in their report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Selective publication can lead doctors to make inappropriate prescribing decisions that may not be in the best interest of their patients and, thus, the public health," they wrote.

The idea that unfavorable test results are quietly tucked away so nobody will see them -- sometimes call the "file drawer effect" -- has been around for years.

The Turner team used a U.S. Food and Drug Administration registry in which companies are supposed to log details of their drug tests before the experiments are begun.

"It tells you where they placed their bets before they saw the data," Turner said in a telephone interview.

Of the 74 studies that started for the 12 antidepressants, 38 produced positive results for the drug. All but one of those studies were published.

REWRITTEN STUDIES

However, only three of the 36 studies with negative or questionable results, as assessed by the FDA, were published and another 11 were written as if the drug had worked.

"Not only were positive results more likely to be published, but studies that were not positive, in our opinion, were often published in a way that conveyed a positive outcome," said the authors.

I guess that's what you get when  so much is privatized.  Drug companies test or fund the tests on their own drugs.  What do they think they're going to find?  They find results that look like they are taking their own 'get happy drugs'.  Weill if their happy drugs actually worked.

(Yes, this report came out about a month ago.  I was busy and missed it, I think.  I felt it should be here for a record and to make snarky remarks about, of course.)

tags: drug companies  prescription drugs  medicine  pharmaceutical companies  

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