Unsuspecting consumers who install software, open attachments or merely visit certain Web sites can find themselves tethered to an unwanted start page every time they log onto the Net. No free dinner. Or even a ballpoint pen. From freebies for medical students to research funding that can taint study results to the growing practice of marketing prescription medicine directly to consumers, drug companies have a growing and sometimes unseemly influence on doctors, according to articles, studies and editorials published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Most experts agree that research needs industry dollars.
The problem is when researchers have financial interests in companies funding their work. DeAngelis said such research is lower in quality and more likely to report findings favorable to the company. Authorities said they found the boys after Yahweh called 911 on Oct. 14. Police and prosecutors allege the brothers were chained to a bed, beaten and kept hidden from the outside world for most of their lives. The boys apparently never received medical or dental care, investigators said.