Healthy Skepticism Library item: 15801

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Evans SJ.
Papers with industry ties: Classic confounding conflicts
BMJ. 2009 Jun 15; 338:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/338/jun15_1/b2397

Abstract:

The paper by Jagsi et al in Cancer examining conflicts of interest in published clinical cancer research and reported by Tanne may be an example of classic confounding.1 2The industry funded trials may differ from non-industry funded trials in a way-for example, the treatments used-that is associated with the outcome. The treatments they compare are actually more effective.

The authors themselves note this, though not very clearly. Industry funded trials may not distort results at all (which is not the impression left in the reader’s mind after reading the BMJ), but they address different questions.

They may choose to investigate areas of cancer where success is likely to be greater. The questions they address and the designs of the studies may be different. This is bias, but of a very different nature to the idea that they distort results. The evidence is they tend to interpret similar results with . .