Posted by Tomatheus on July 21, 2013, at 17:00:02
Article: Big pharma mobilising patients in battle over drugs trials data
Leaked memo from industry bodies reveals strategy to combat calls by regulators to force companies to publish results
By Ian Sample
The GuardianThe pharmaceutical industry has "mobilised" an army of patient groups to lobby against plans to force companies to publish secret documents on drugs trials.
Drugs companies publish only a fraction of their results and keep much of the information to themselves, but regulators want to ban the practice. If companies published all of their clinical trials data, independent scientists could reanalyse their results and check companies' claims about the safety and efficacy of drugs.
Under proposals being thrashed out in Europe, drugs companies would be compelled to release all of their data, including results that show drugs do not work or cause dangerous side-effects.
While some companies have agreed to share data more freely, the industry has broadly resisted the moves. The latest strategy shows how patient groups -- many of which receive some or all of their funding from drugs companies -- have been brought into the battle.
The strategy was drawn up by two large trade groups, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), and outlined in a memo to senior industry figures this month, according to an email seen by the Guardian.
Read full article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jul/21/big-pharma-secret-drugs-trials?CMP=twt_fd
Conditions:
* chronic fatigue, hypersomnia, and related symptoms
* schizoaffective disordertomatheus.blogspot.com
poster:Tomatheus
thread:1047572
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20130706/msgs/1047572.html