AMA wants drug studies to be placed on registry

CHICAGO — The American Medical Association called on the government Tuesday to establish a public registry for all drug study results — even research funded by pharmaceutical companies that reflects poorly on their products.

The resolution stems from concern that drug company-funded submissions to medical journals usually show only positive results. The revelation that some unpublished data linked some antidepressants with suicidal behavior in children added to the debate.

The AMA called for the Department of Health and Human Services to establish the registry and either publish it or make it available over the Internet. Bill Pierce, a spokesman for the department, said he could not comment because the department had not yet received the proposal.

Alan Goldhammer of the industry group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said last week that a public research registry could lead to misinterpretation, especially if it lacked specifics including details on study size.

But Dr. John Schneider, an Illinois internist, said the registry would clearly state if the study included raw data or had not been peer reviewed.

“The problem is that there is information that just disappears,” he said. “There’s no point in doing trials if the information is going to be thrown away.”

Dr. David Fassler, a Vermont psychiatrist who supported the measure, noted a report Tuesday that a group of top medical journals is considering requiring drug makers — if they want their results to be considered for later publication — to register clinical trials in a public database at the study’s start. The development was reported by The New York Times, citing anonymous sources.

“I think over the next couple of years, we’re going to see physicians, patients and researchers will have much better access to this information. And in the long run, that’s going to increase the quality of patient care,” Fassler said.

The resolution was adopted without discussion.