Drug Firms Soft Lies to Doctors

"A new study of the advertising material and marketing brochures sent out by drug companies to doctors in Germany has shown that about 94% of the information in them has no basis in scientific evidence. The study was carried out by the Institute for Evidence-Based Medicine, a private independent research institute in Cologne.

"About 15% of the brochures did not contain any citations, while the citations listed in another 22% could not be found. In the remaining 63% the information did not reflect cited results. Only 6% of the brochures contained statements that were scientifically supported by identifiable literature.

"The authors warn that such a high amount of misinformation puts patients’ health at risk. Studies from other countries have shown that doctors tend to base their decisions on the information and advertising material sent out by drug companies. Therefore, the authors conclude, an independent institution should be established to monitor the content of such material....