'Deceitful' Big Pharma accused of putting lives at risk

Patients are being deceived into taking drugs they don't need, that don't work or may put lives at risk, according to a scathing review of the influence big drug companies have on healthcare.
Drug companies ''masterfully influenced'' medicine, a joint review by Australian, British and US researchers has found, describing how the enormous profit involved in making and selling drugs gave the industry power to influence every stage of the health system.
''As a result of these interferences, the benefits of drugs and other products are often exaggerated and their potential harms are downplayed,'' their research, published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, found.
A co-author of the paper, Emmanuel Stamatakis, from the University of Sydney's school of public health, said it was ''entirely illogical'' to rely on the pharmaceutical industry to fund medical research.

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''The profits involved are just too large and the temptation to manipulate the evidence is difficult to resist, even when this may lead to the loss of lives,'' Dr Stamatakis said.
''Asking corporate sponsors to conduct pivotal trials on their own products is like asking a painter to judge their own painting to receive an award.''

http://www.theage.com.au/national/deceitful-big-pharma-accused-of-putting-lives-at-risk-20130406-2he0n.html