RES 351 Wk 1
In the article “Conflicted Medical Journals and the Failure of Trust” the issue of pharmaceutical businesses and their research, and how it is presented is outlined. The article covers one of the largest controversies with business research conducted by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and how the results were skewed and then reported by many medical journals as fact, even though the research did not support what was reported. The study was GSK 329, which showed a particular drug to be effective in adolescents with depression, even though the testing showed otherwise. (Jureidini & McHenry, 2011)
The biggest unethical behavior that was demonstrated by GSK, and medical journals was the skewing of results of a study. Medical journals published articles that misrepresented the findings of GSK’s research. Internal reports by the company showed that their trials of the drug had failed to benefit adolescents with depression, and positively showed that there were negative results. (Jureidini & McHenry, 2011) The internal report states that “it would be commercially unacceptable to include a statement that efficacy had not been demonstrated, as this would undermine the profile of paroxetine,” and that “to effectively manage the dissemination of data in order to minimize any potential negative commercial impact.” (Jureidini &McHenry, 2011) This indicates that they skewed the results of the study so that only selective data would be published. The authors also place blame on the medical journals that published the results as well, saying that they too are responsible for accurately presenting the results of the company’s research.
There were many injured parties in the case of GSK. To start the company was a huge injured party, as well as the company that did the clinical trials for them. The researchers were put under pressure by investigations that followed the discovery of GSK’s false reports. The negative attention alone can affect the trust others put in their research.
The biggest unethical behavior that was demonstrated by GSK, and medical journals was the skewing of results of a study. Medical journals published articles that misrepresented the findings of GSK’s research. Internal reports by the company showed that their trials of the drug had failed to benefit adolescents with depression, and positively showed that there were negative results. (Jureidini & McHenry, 2011) The internal report states that “it would be commercially unacceptable to include a statement that efficacy had not been demonstrated, as this would undermine the profile of paroxetine,” and that “to effectively manage the dissemination of data in order to minimize any potential negative commercial impact.” (Jureidini &McHenry, 2011) This indicates that they skewed the results of the study so that only selective data would be published. The authors also place blame on the medical journals that published the results as well, saying that they too are responsible for accurately presenting the results of the company’s research.
There were many injured parties in the case of GSK. To start the company was a huge injured party, as well as the company that did the clinical trials for them. The researchers were put under pressure by investigations that followed the discovery of GSK’s false reports. The negative attention alone can affect the trust others put in their research.