Most doctors who set guidelines have industry ties

[Guest guest]

Most doctors who set guidelines have industry ties

By Stenson

NEW YORK, Feb 05 (Reuters Health) - The vast majority of doctors

involved in establishing national guidelines on disease treatment have

financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry that could potentially

sway their recommendations and inappropriately influence thousands of

other physicians, a new study concludes.

Eighty-seven percent of guideline authors had some type of relationship

with drug companies, yet these often were not disclosed, according to

survey responses from 100 authors of guidelines published from 1991 to

1999 for common diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and

asthma.

More specifically, 38% of respondents said they had served as employees

or consultants for pharmaceutical companies and 58% had received

financial support for medical research. In addition, 59% had links with

drug companies whose medications were considered in the particular

guidelines they authored, according to the report in the February 6th

issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

" The findings show that people who work on committees who write practice

guidelines have lots of financial relationships with companies whose

products they're assessing, " study author Dr. Allan Detsky,

physician-in-chief at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, told Reuters

Health.

And these figures may underestimate the problem, the researchers said,

because only 52% of the authors contacted for the survey responded. Some

may have declined to participate because they did not want to disclose

their industry relationships, the report indicates. Though the

investigators did not name names, the survey did not explicitly

guarantee anonymity.

While industry ties don't necessarily mean that a doctor can't provide

an objective opinion, " it's a potential problem, " Detsky said.

In the study, the researchers did not actually search for concrete

examples in which industry ties translated into improper treatment

recommendations. But when respondents were asked whether relationships

with drug companies influenced guideline recommendations, 19% said they

thought their co-authors' recommendations were swayed by their

relationships and 7% said they thought their own relationships

influenced recommendations.

Detsky pointed out that industry relationships are often an essential

part of doing business for doctors. Many of the nation's top medical

researchers at prestigious academic institutions--the same ones sought

for guideline authorship--have industry relationships because it is the

pharmaceutical companies who finance most of the nation's drug research.

Detsky himself has received honoraria for speeches, consulting fees and

research grant money from drug companies.

So how much industry involvement should disqualify a doctor from

participation in clinical guidelines? " That's the $64,000 question, "

Detsky said. " Any cut point would be considered arbitrary with the

possible exception of zero involvement. "

The researchers specifically recommended the disqualification of authors

who own equity in a company whose products are being reviewed in the

guidelines.

Beyond that, each medical group that sets guidelines should devise their

own ways for identifying and dealing with potential conflicts of

interest within their specialty-- " ways we can preclude these conflicts

from harming the consumer, " Detsky said.

In the survey, 55% of respondents said the guidelines they worked on had

no formal process for declaring relationships with drug companies. And

just 2 of the 44 guidelines evaluated in the study listed the authors'

industry relationships in print.

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association

2002;287:612-617.

[Guest guest]

I agree, a. At the very least, ALL financial ties should be

disclosed any time the physician's opinion or recommendation on a

guideline is published. Very disturbing.

Re: [ ] Most doctors who set guidelines have industry

ties

> I say 0% involvement!!!!!!!!!! This should be illegal as should be

doctor perks from pharmaceutical companies.

>

> a

[Guest guest]

I say 0% involvement!!!!!!!!!! This should be illegal as should be doctor perks

from pharmaceutical companies.

a

[Guest guest]

http://curezone.com/art/read.asp?ID=119 & db=1 & C0=74 & C1=1 & C2=74

February 05 , 2002 [Reuters]

Most Doctors Who Set Guidelines

Have Industry Ties

By Stenson, The Journal of AMA