After Crisis Over Financial Conflicts Of Interest, Sloan Kettering Researchers File Corrections With Medical Journals
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has been in the spotlight recently after the resignation of its chief medical officer, Dr. Jose Baselga, for failing to disclose his financial ties to the health industry.
The New York Times/ProPublica:
Sloan Kettering Researchers Correct The Record By Revealing Company Ties
Top researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have filed at least seven corrections with medical journals recently, divulging financial relationships with health care companies that they did not previously disclose. The hospital’s chief executive, Dr. Craig B. Thompson, disclosed his relationship with companies including the drug maker Merck, and Dr. Jedd Wolchok, a noted pioneer in cancer immunotherapy, listed his affiliations with 31 companies. (Ornstein and Thomas, 10/12)
In other research and transparency news —
Stat:
Harvard And The Brigham Call For 31 Retractions Of Cardiac Stem Cell Research
Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have recommended that 31 papers from a former lab director be retracted from medical journals. The papers from the lab of Dr. Piero Anversa, who studied cardiac stem cells, “included falsified and/or fabricated data,” according to a statement to Retraction Watch and STAT from the two institutions. (Oransky and Marcus, 10/14)
Stat:
Industry Influence Over Clinical Trial Design And Reporting Lacks Transparency
Although it is widely known that drug and device makers fund most clinical trials, a new analysis finds these companies are not always transparent about the influence they exert on trial design and reporting. And the researchers suggest business concerns may too often trump patient interests. On the plus side, the analysis found the vast majority of academics and their industry partners, including contract research organizations, contributed to trial design and reporting. And four of five academics had complete access to all of the data generated by the trials that were examined, according to the analysis, which was published in BMJ. (Silverman, 10/11)
