Clinical trials results linked to funding

SCIENTISTS who carry out clinical trials for private drug companies are more likely to report positive outcomes than authors of studies carried out for not-for-profit organisations.

A review of clinical trials published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) suggests the funding of a drug trial appears to influence the outcome.

Danish researchers studied 159 trials published between 1997 and 2001 in the BMJ - which obliges authors to declare their funding and any conflict of interest.