01/09/2014    

PHARMACEUTICAL NEWS

Drugs Companies "Routinely Withhold Results of Medical Trials" - UK Report 

 

Drug companies have “routinely and legally” withheld the results of medical trials from doctors, researchers, and patients for decades, members of Parliament (MPs) have said. In a damning report, the Public Accounts Committee said it was of “extreme concern” that about half of all trial results for medicines available on the global market were not subject to public and independent scrutiny. Warning that doctors and patients are being “undermined” in their ability to make informed decisions on treatment, the committee called on the Government to act to ensure that the results of all clinical trials of every medicine currently being prescribed are made available. 

 

The report will significantly increase pressure on the world’s pharmaceutical giants to commit to full transparency over clinical trials. Critics have accused “Big Pharma” of systematically putting profit before patients, withholding data that might undermine confidence in their blockbuster drugs. MPs said that “trials which gave a favorable verdict” were “about twice as likely to be published as trials giving unfavorable results.”

 

Source: The Independent via MDLinx [1/6/14]