By: Rick

<strong>Doctors Cast Skeptical Eye on Pharma-Backed Studies</strong> Physicians are deeply suspicious of industry-funded randomized clinical trials, even when they are of high methodological rigor, according to recently published findings. The study, which appeared in the Sept. 20 issue of <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> comes amid efforts by leading pharmaceutical companies to close what they see as a “credibility gap” faced by industry-sponsored research. The study’s authors and other experts argue that high-profile controversies such as misleading and selectively reported trial data related to Merck’s Vioxx (rofecoxib) and GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia (rosiglitazone) have made physicians more doubtful of pharma-sponsored studies. <strong>Source:</strong> Kevin B. O'Reilly, Amednews.com [10/8/12]