Undisclosed Conflicts: A Blemish On Acne Treatment Guidelines?

What should one make of this? A prominent medical society issues guidelines for a common affliction and most of the authors were paid consultants or speakers for the companies that sell the drugs used to treat the problem. And the organization that developed the guidelines – and paid the society to publish them as a supplement in its medical journal – received nearly all of its income from the same drugmakers. These are the circumstances surrounding the appearance last May of the guidelines published by the American Academy of Pediatrics to treat childhood acne. Of the 15 experts who penned the guidelines, 13 had financial ties to drugmakers (see the disclosure statements here). And the American Acne & Rosacea Society, which derived 98 percent of its income during the year before publication from drugamkers, paid the academy an undisclosed sum for publication (here are the published guidelines). “Does it make me suspicious? Are you kidding?” Catherine DeAngeles, a professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine a former editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, tells The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and MedPage Today, which jointly published this story and reviewed the treatment guidelines, disclosure statements and IRS filings. “The basis for these guidelines seems to be marketing, not science.” How so? Well, the media outlets found that Galderma Laboratories gave $176,000 to the acne society in 2011 and was the largest contributor ...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs