Laboring through informed consent

摘要

Anyone interested can determine how many trials were begun on a particular subject and ascertain how many actually were published. However, few readers ever become aware of this information, and, regardless, the unpublished results remain unknown. A number of other industry practices have been described that are designed to obscure relevant information from patients and physicians. Ambiguous reporting is one of the more common industrial practices.3 An undetectable example of ambiguous reporting is the publication of favorable data while withholding unfavorable data from the same study. Other examples involve study design and data analysis. To maximize the perception of benefit, new treatments can be compared with placebo rather than with existing treatments, or the same patients can be compared before and after treatment rather than with a control group. Statistical analysis can be manipulated to enhance the message most favorable to the sponsor.