Thursday, May 19, 2005

Drug Firms Plan One-Stop Website for Trials Data Reuters Health story at Medscape - "The pharmaceutical industry plans to launch a global website in September, pooling information on ongoing and completed clinical trials, as it steps up a campaign to reassure patients about medicine safety. The Geneva-based International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations said on Monday that IBM would develop the Internet search portal, which will tap into information held in industry trial registries and databases. Drugmakers in the United States, Europe and Japan agreed in January on a voluntary code to publish detailed clinical trials data and said at the time they were exploring ways to make this information available through a single 'window'. The new portal will establish links to company websites and other commercial and government-sponsored websites containing information provided by firms." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Medical Journals Are an Extension of the Marketing Arm of Pharmaceutical Companies Article in PLoS Medicine on the influence of pharmaceutical companies on published research - "... By 2003 it was possible to do a systematic review of 30 studies comparing the outcomes of studies funded by the pharmaceutical industry with those of studies funded from other sources. Some 16 of the studies looked at clinical trials or meta-analyses, and 13 had outcomes favourable to the sponsoring companies. Overall, studies funded by a company were four times more likely to have results favourable to the company than studies funded from other sources."  
  

Mothers' Antidepressants Could Harm Newborns Scripps Howard story reprinted at PsycPORT - "Newborns of women who took antidepressant drugs during the final three months of pregnancy face an increased risk of behavioral and respiratory problems, a new report shows. 'Neonatal behavior syndrome' is the name for symptoms and behaviors thought to be related to drug withdrawal or side effects. They include tremors or jitteriness, stiffened muscle tone, irritability, feeding or digestive problems, excessive crying, sleep disturbances or breathing problems. While most problems related to the drugs are mild and usually end within about two weeks of birth, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found some cases severe enough to require hospitalization in a neonatal intensive care unit. "