100 Researchers Ask NIH To Fund Ethics Research
7 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // November 17th, 2009 // 9:08 am
Dozens of researchers, clinicians, and ethicists sent a letter asking the NIH to fund research on medical ethics, conflicts of interest, and industry influence on prescribing behavior. Why? They note that stimulus funding has increased the NIH budget significantly, but the agency has “no mechanism for funding research on how commercial interests affect the choice of medical therapeutics.”
In their Nov. 17 letter, they write NIH director Francis Collins that the “NIH funds a substantial portion of the generation and dissemination of evidence, but the uptake of that evidence and its translation into clinical practice is strongly affected by the complex web of relationships that exists among industry, academicians, medical educators and clinicians…
“..we ask that you acknowledge the research gap on the effect of conflicts of interest and commercial influence on medical decisionmaking and set in motion a process that leads to recognition of the importance of funding studies on research ethics, the beliefs and behaviors of researchers and clinicians, and the effects of industry-academic relationships on the generation and dissemination of medical knowledge.”
The letter was distributed by PharmedOut and the writers include Virginia Barbour, chief editor of PLoS Medicine; Jerome Kassirer, former editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine; Jerry Avorn the Harvard physician who invented academic detailing; Kay Dickersin, director of the US Cochrane Center, and Susan Wood, former head of the FDA Office of Women’s Health Research, who resigned over political influence regarding FDA decisions on the emergency contraceptive Plan B.
Institutional signers include the Public Library of Science, the American Medical Student Association, the National Physicians Alliance, Consumers Union, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the National Women’s Health Network.
Condor
Great story, here Ed!
With the authors’ blessing, I’ve put up a link, and created a little graphical badge, that anyone who wants to support the effort, may download, and place on their blogs, twitter-tweets, etc. — to publicize this important initiative.
Do go downlaod it.
Namaste
Salmon
They forgot Pharma’s corruption of the FDA.
White papers, position papers, guidances, approvals, labeling, even reporting of adverse effects is inappropriately influenced or controlled by Pharma.
Salmon
Former Pharma Marketing Director
Great initiative!!!
Strongly support this, and perhaps we can see how wonderful to get stimulate some important new jobs, now that many researchers are being let go in industry….
Condor
What do we do about that, Salmon?
Should we talk to the authors?
Let me know. Namaste
LILLYK
Where is Congress? Senator Grassley writes letters—-but nothing changes??????—Just like Obama promised changes?????—Paid Lobbying must stop! NO CAMPAIGN DONATIONS! EVERY CANDIATE RUNNING FOR OFFICE SHOULD HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES TO COMMUNICARTE WITH THE PUBLIC—WITHOUT CORPORATE POWER PAYING. ANY ELECTED OR APPOINTED OFFICAL OR THEIR FAMILY SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY INVESTMENTS IN THE MEDICAL PROFESSIIN, HEALTH CARE INDUSTRIES OR PHARMACEUTICALS. Check the
Financial disclosures of all elected appointed officials. They all have investments in healthcare industries, pharmacueticals, banks, oil, wind power energy, general electric and various invvestment companies.
Bernard Carroll
I am one of the signers of this initiative. Just the same, I am not sure how much research is needed – the facts are widely known, the rollover time from grant submission to completed project and publication is years, and whatever is learned will be challenged by vested interests with hypocritical calls for confirmation. Any change will be glacial.
What we need urgently is enforcement of existing standards by NIH, by academic institutions, and by professional societies. For too long the people whose job it was to rein in the ethical outliers looked the other way. Senator Grassley had to do it for them. Our letter to Francis Collins quotes his predecessor Elias Zerhouni saying about academic medical centers, “People flouted the rules, didn’t disclose, and did it for years on end, repeatedly.” I consider it disingenuous of Dr. Zerhouni to wait until he was safely out of the hot seat before making such a statement.
My preference has been for case studies that expose systemic problems through deconstruction of specific instances of corruption. I guess I feel that corruption in biomedicine is like pornography – we know it when we see it.
Salmon
Condor,
I believe that first sunlight has to be shown on the corruptions that have occurred. As you know from posts I’ve placed on your site I’ve gone through a number of FDA documents that are on the internet and have been able to tease out problems. We’ve also seen other information from other sources.
However often times the mainstream press does not pick up on or follow things. It’s fortunate that we have a few people and sites and I especially want to point to Ed and Pharmalot, Pharmagossip, you at Shearlings got Plowed, and Furious Seasons.
I believe we need a major, major scandal and especially of a financial nature illustrating collusion between a major pharma co and the FDA so that a major outlet such as the WSJ will pick up on it.
Only such a situation that could potentially result in numerous FDA officials going to jail, similar to the Generic Drug Scandal, would in my opinion get the attention of Congress.
I believe such a scenario is possible and that the evidence to make it happen is out there.
Salmon