Principal Investigator of Alcohol Clinical Trial is Hiding its Industry Funding from the Public and Potential Research Subjects

I have already explained why I think the Moderate Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health (MACH15) clinical trial should beimmediately halted because of both scientific and ethical breaches in the way the research was planned. Today, I reveal what I believe is misconduct in the actual conduct of the trial: namely, in the communication of the research sponsors to the public.I believe that the public -- and especially research subjects -- have the right to know who is funding a clinical trial that is seeking their participation. In fact, there are rules requiring the sponsors of such studies to be revealed to the public. However, I believe the MACH15 study is violating these principles by hiding its true sponsors from the public.The Rest of the StoryOn the studyweb site, the study sponsor is reported as being the " National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). " However, nowhere on the site does it disclose that the real sponsor behind the research are alcohol companies, which have ponied up to cover two-thirds of the cost of the entire research project. The alcohol money is being funneled through a " middle man " (the NIH Foundation) on its way to NIAAA, but the source of the money is clear: this is an alcohol industry-funded study. In violation of ethical principles for the conduct of research, this critical information is not being disclosed to the public on the project web site.Therefore, I am calling both the Department of Health and Human Services (through the Ins...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs