According to a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, a third of the 185 meta-analyses reviewed were written by pharmaceutical industry employees, which presents a clear bias. Many independent researchers that worked on drug studies were also found to have a conflict of interest, even though they weren’t employed by a pharmaceutical company. In 53 meta-analyses that had an author who wasn’t a pharmaceutical employee, 25 percent had conflicts of interest that weren’t reported at the time the studies were done. “We knew that the industry would fund studies to promote its products, but it’s very different to fund meta-analyses,” which “have traditionally been a bulwark of evidence-based medicine,” said John Ioannidis, the study’s co-author.

http://blog.muipr.com/health-2/pharmaceutical-industry-bias-leads-to-burial-of-drug-side-effects/