Journal of American Medical Association: Duped Again

Doctors don't disclose drug company industry ties when they publish "research". Here's what happened:

"Authors should always err on the side of full disclosure," she wrote in her response.

Dr. Tobias Kurth, the study's lead author, said the researchers were not trying to mislead the journal. He said they believed their financial ties were irrelevant because the study does not promote drug treatment, but rather reports a potential link between women with severe migraines and an increased risk of heart attacks.

"They do not represent a conflict of interest," he said in a telephone interview.

Kurth, a scientist at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital, said he has received research funding from the makers of Bayer aspirin, Tylenol and Advil — pain relievers sometimes used to treat migraines.

Really? No conflict, huh? How about the drug companies want to find links so that women with migraines start taking prophylactic Bayer? A whole new market for an old, old drug: Salycitic Acid is born. To claim that there is no conflict is laughable.

Happens all the time, folks. That's why nearly 50% of medical journals are contradictory bunk. The key is finding out which 50% is bunk. Good luck with that one.