Prepare to NOT be Shocked: Clinical Trials are Biased

Dr. Jeffrey Peppercorn and colleagues recently conducted an analysis of cancer drug trials to examine whether industry funding was associated with a greater likelihood of finding positive results. What did they find?

In 2003, the likelihood of positive results was 84 percent for studies with pharmaceutical involvement, versus 54 percent in studies without clear industry connections. Our analysis was small, consisting only of 140 trials, but similar associations have been documented before, in stroke trials, psychiatry trials, cardiovascular trials and several other areas of clinical research.

An earlier post has detailed how the whole publication process is biased and this latest story appears to be just another cog in the machine.

Hat Tip: eDrugSearch Blog.