Drug Trials Funded by Manufacturers Find 50 Percent Greater Drug Effectiveness

New economic analysis shows significant bias in clinical trials for psychiatric drugs, potentially influencing drug approvals.
Drug Trials Funded by Manufacturers Find 50 Percent Greater Drug Effectiveness
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Drug studies sponsored by drug manufacturers tend to report higher drug efficacy than studies not sponsored by drug companies, a report published in the Journal of Political Economy on Oct. 7 found.

The report found a “sponsorship effect” that tends to bias sponsored studies toward reporting higher drug efficacies. The author could not find differences in study design between those funded by drug companies and those not.

Huey Freeman
Huey Freeman
Author
A newspaper reporter, editor, and author, Huey Freeman recently wrote “Who Shot Nick Ivie?” a true crime book on the murder of a border patrol agent. He lives in Central Illinois with his wife Kate.