More than one way to deceive readers

URL:  http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=650678

** Major Drug Review Research Fails to Disclose Funding Sources **

A meta-analysis combines the results of several studies that address a set of related researchther. Basically, the meta-analysis is a report about several related studies.

Canadian researchers reviewed 29 meta-analyses, which covered data from 509 randomized controlled drug trials. About 62 percent them had their funding sources listed when they were published in the key medical journals. More than two-thirds of them had been supported at least partly by the pharmaceutical industry. It is disturbing that the majority of reports are published by researchers who benefit when the report is good. The fact that some of them reported their conenctions is a step in the right direction. It would be far better if no reseaerchers were financiually dependant on the drug makers. That won't happen, so knowing they may be biased is better than not knowing, until we look at the meta-analysis reports.

The Canadian researchers found that none of the meta-analyses disclosed the original authors' ties to pharmaceutical companies.

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