In a message dated 99-05-19 17:34:38 EDT, ani...@aol.com writes:
<< Report: Drug Trials Hiding Conflicts
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of patients are being recruited by
their personal physicians into a booming venture for doctors -- the business
of testing experimental drugs on people, The New York Times reports in its
Sunday editions.
The newspaper said a 10-month investigation revealed a system that is
fraught
with conflicts of interest; that relies on government and private monitoring
that can be easily fooled and that some researchers said is inadequate; and
that secretly offers a share of the cash to other health professionals who
might influence patients to join a study.
The number of private doctors in research since 1990 has almost tripled, and
top recruiters can earn as much as $500,000 to $1 million a year, according
to the story, which was based on confidential documents and interviews.
This new system is a boon for drug companies because it reaches out to a
vast
pool of test subjects who have never before been available for
experimentation. But it also injects the interests of a giant industry into
the delicate doctor-patient relationship, usually without the patient
realizing it.
Among the specific findings of the Times' investigation:
Drug companies and their contractors offer large payments to doctors, nurses
and other medical staff to encourage them to recruit patients quickly. And
doctors do not even have to conduct trials to get paid: There are finder's
fees for those who refer their patients to other doctors conducting research.
Doctors who recruit the most patients receive additional perquisites, such
as
the right to claim a coveted authorship of published papers about the
studies
-- even though the true author is a ghostwriter using analysis from the drug
company. Those who fail to meet the recruitment goals are usually dropped
from future studies.
Testing companies often use doctors as clinical investigators regardless of
their specialty, at times leaving patients in the care of doctors who know
little about their condition. For example, psychiatrists have conducted Pap
smears and asthma specialists have dispensed experimental psychiatric drugs.
A growing number of doctors conducting drug research have limited experience
as clinical investigators, raising questions among some experts about the
quality of their data.
AP-NY-05-15-99 2209EDT
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
>>
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Don't know if you all have seen this.
--------------------
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From: aoln...@aol.com
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Date: Sat, 15 May 1999 22:09:49 EDT
Subject: Report: Drug Trials Hiding Conflicts
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Report: Drug Trials Hiding Conflicts
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of patients are being recruited by
their personal physicians into a booming venture for doctors -- the business
of testing experimental drugs on people, The New York Times reports in its
Sunday editions.
The newspaper said a 10-month investigation revealed a system that is fraught
with conflicts of interest; that relies on government and private monitoring
that can be easily fooled and that some researchers said is inadequate; and
that secretly offers a share of the cash to other health professionals who
might influence patients to join a study.
The number of private doctors in research since 1990 has almost tripled, and
top recruiters can earn as much as $500,000 to $1 million a year, according
to the story, which was based on confidential documents and interviews.
This new system is a boon for drug companies because it reaches out to a vast
pool of test subjects who have never before been available for
experimentation. But it also injects the interests of a giant industry into
the delicate doctor-patient relationship, usually without the patient
realizing it.
Among the specific findings of the Times' investigation:
Drug companies and their contractors offer large payments to doctors, nurses
and other medical staff to encourage them to recruit patients quickly. And
doctors do not even have to conduct trials to get paid: There are finder's
fees for those who refer their patients to other doctors conducting research.
Doctors who recruit the most patients receive additional perquisites, such as
the right to claim a coveted authorship of published papers about the studies
-- even though the true author is a ghostwriter using analysis from the drug
company. Those who fail to meet the recruitment goals are usually dropped
from future studies.
Testing companies often use doctors as clinical investigators regardless of
their specialty, at times leaving patients in the care of doctors who know
little about their condition. For example, psychiatrists have conducted Pap
smears and asthma specialists have dispensed experimental psychiatric drugs.
A growing number of doctors conducting drug research have limited experience
as clinical investigators, raising questions among some experts about the
quality of their data.
AP-NY-05-15-99 2209EDT
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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HREF="aol://1722:NewsProfiles">NewsProfiles
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