Medical Journals and Pharmaceutical Companies

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In the fall of 2001, the editors of 12 prominent medical journals collectively announced that they would refuse to publish research on new prescription drugs unless the authors provided assurances that they had had unimpeded access to the data and were fully responsible for the paper's conclusions. The announcement was an extraordinary admission of just how extensive industry control over medical research had become. The editors noted that more and more, the authors of scientific papers--even authors based at prestigious universities--did not have access to the complete trial data. In some cases, the editors observed, authors were unable to publish without prior authorization from the corporate sponsor.

The journal editors pointed out that publication of clinical studies in respected peer-reviewed journals is the "ultimate basis for most treatment decisions," so it is essential that the data be gathered and presented in "an objective and dispassionate manner." Medicine is only as good as the science on which it is based, and if that science is not objective and honest, then patients can be seriously harmed.