Read the fine print: who funded that study?
Whenever I hear about new medical research, I always ask one question first: who funded it?
Too often, reporters — even reporters for respected news sources like Reuters — don’t give us this essential information when they cover new studies.
Take, for example, the flurry of recent news items with titles like “Morning sickness linked to smarter babies” and “Study links morning sickness to higher IQ.” I found this kind of an intriguing idea, so I read the Reuters article. The article didn’t mention the study’s funder, but the very small size of the group they studied, and the fact that they also studied the safety of a drug for morning sickness, made me suspicious.
A quick visit to the website of the Journal of Pediatrics, the study’s publisher, showed me I was right: the fine print on the abstract indicated that the study was funded by the maker of the anti-nausea drug, and one of the study’s authors is a paid consultant for the company. Why, exactly, didn’t Reuters think this was worth mentioning?
The only article I found (on an admittedly cursory search) that brought up the obvious problems with the study was this one on the website doublex.com.
Caitlin said,
November 18, 2009 @ 6:18 pm
Questioning is essential if you’re interested in the truth.
Keep up the good work.
Jaspenelle said,
November 18, 2009 @ 6:21 pm
My mother (who use to work at a veterinary university that did some medical studies) always taught me to be suspicious of these “studies”. It always bugs me when reporters don’t dig into a story and get all that background information. It makes me wonder who is really paying them.
Delphyne said,
November 19, 2009 @ 7:44 am
That’s the best question to ask on all “studies” and who is actually benefiting from that “study.” Great post!
pogostemon said,
November 19, 2009 @ 9:08 am
I have always responded to any statement that quotes scientific research “proves” one thing or another with the question
“Who is paying the Scientist?”
Great post thanks
Lorraine
LifeStyle said,
December 15, 2009 @ 4:12 pm
That is true. Once news was out that playing video games increases hand – eye coordination. I checked who funded this study and I found it was video game company. How do you trust?
Thanks
LifeStyle