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Asthma trials show pros, cons of drug-company research

Respiratory Care Weekly, June 21, 2006

Medical research sponsored by drug companies has both a positive and possibly negative influence on physician practices, according to a study published in the June 21 Journal of the American Medical Association. The study found that the prevalence of inhaled steroid use among asthma patients increased from 68.5% at baseline to 72.9% during the second observation year in trial-conducting practices and from 69.1% to 73.3% in control, or non-trial-conducting, practices. Trial-conducting practices were 26% more likely than control practices to have the trial sponsor's inhaled corticosteroids used. The trial sponsor's share of the total prescribed volume of asthma drugs increased in trial-conducting practices compared with control practices by 6.7%.

"Our study confirms the hypothesis that physician involvement in clinical trials is a powerful tool for influencing company-specific drug preferences," wrote the authors. "Several mechanisms may be responsible, including setting up a gift relationship by payment to the trial-conducting physicians. If we had access to information on the costs of the trial, it would have been possible to evaluate if these trial costs were counterbalanced by the revenue from the trial sponsor's increased market share."

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