Nov 11, 2007

Medical Studies

It infuriates me when I am reading a study, or when I see a news report about a study and then I find that the study was funded by the manufacturer of the product. The recent study in Fertility and Sterility was very interesting to me and I thought the 9% increase in pregnancy rate following the use of monitors was encouraging for women with unexplained infertility problems.

However, my heart sank when I realised that the study was funded by Inverness Medical Innovations, the manufacturer of Clearblue (R) products.

As a medical writer, I spend a great deal of time reading medical journals, looking at news reports and reading books on medical subjects. Time and time again, I find that studies have been funded by organisations which have a conflict of interest and who really should not be funding such a study, for ethical reasons. It isn't solely restricted to the world of infertility, either.

Some of you may remember the debate about the safety of the MMR vaccine and the famous Finnish study which was reported to prove MMR was safe, well, that study was funded by the vaccine manufacturer, with a vested interest in a positive result for them.

It's rather like asking a window salesman if you should get double glazing this year. Of course he's going to say yes.

Studies should never be considered scientifically serious while they are paid for by those who are trying to sell a product. For the science to have true value, it must be independent and studies must be conducted by doctors who have no bias towards a particular outcome, otherwise it becomes a cheap advertising ploy.