TY - JOUR
T1 - The money blind
T2 - How to stop industry bias in biomedical science, without violating the first amendment
AU - Robertson, Christopher T.
PY - 2011/6
Y1 - 2011/6
N2 - The pharmaceutical and medical device industries use billions of dollars to support the biomedical science that physicians, regulators, and patients use to make healthcare decisions-the decisions that drive an increasingly large portion of the American economy. Compelling evidence suggests that this industry money buys favorable results, biasing the outcomes of scientific research. Current efforts to manage the problem, including disclosure mandates and peer reviews, are ineffective. A blinding mechanism, operating through an intermediary such as the National Institutes of Health, could instead be developed to allow industry support of science without allowing undue influence. If the editors of biomedical journals fail to mandate that industry finders utilize such a solution, the federal government has several regulatory levers available, including conditioning federal funding and direct regulation, both of which could be done without violating the First Amendment.
AB - The pharmaceutical and medical device industries use billions of dollars to support the biomedical science that physicians, regulators, and patients use to make healthcare decisions-the decisions that drive an increasingly large portion of the American economy. Compelling evidence suggests that this industry money buys favorable results, biasing the outcomes of scientific research. Current efforts to manage the problem, including disclosure mandates and peer reviews, are ineffective. A blinding mechanism, operating through an intermediary such as the National Institutes of Health, could instead be developed to allow industry support of science without allowing undue influence. If the editors of biomedical journals fail to mandate that industry finders utilize such a solution, the federal government has several regulatory levers available, including conditioning federal funding and direct regulation, both of which could be done without violating the First Amendment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80051854902&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80051854902&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/009885881103700207
DO - 10.1177/009885881103700207
M3 - Review article
C2 - 21847885
AN - SCOPUS:80051854902
SN - 0098-8588
VL - 37
SP - 358
EP - 387
JO - American Journal of Law and Medicine
JF - American Journal of Law and Medicine
IS - 2-3
ER -