How Drug Company Money is Undermining Science

By Dr. Mercola

Story at-a-glance

• It’s common practice for the pharmaceutical industry to funnel money to prominent research scientists conducting studies on their products, and no one – not the researchers, not their funding sources, not scientific institutions and not even the government – appears able (or willing) to stop it.
• While many medical, educational and research institutions require faculty members to disclose such potential conflicts of interest, many do not actively monitor employees' activities, and disclosures are not always made.
• Even the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the second-highest funding source for drug studies (first is the drug companies, themselves), accepts a great deal of money from Big Pharma and is deeply enmeshed with the industry (two of its former leaders recently went to work for the drug industry).
• Many thousands of doctors, researchers and other medical experts – some of whom you probably depend on to provide unbiased information and advice pertaining to your health care – receive large amounts of supplemental income from drug companies.
• Thanks to the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which starts in 2013, drug companies and medical device manufacturers will be required to reveal most of the money they are giving to physicians; you will be able to determine if a health care provider you trust is actually on the drug industry’s payroll using a searchable online government database.

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