Cochrane reviews compared with industry supported meta-analyses and other meta-analyses of the same drugs: systematic review
BMJPublished 6 October 2006Open access
Anders W Jørgensen, Jørgen Hilden, Peter C Gøtzsche
Citations442
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TL;DR
Industry supported reviews of drugs should be read with caution as they were less transparent, had few reservations about methodological limitations of the included trials, and had more favourable conclusions than the corresponding Cochrane reviews.
Abstract
Industry supported reviews of drugs should be read with caution as they were less transparent, had few reservations about methodological limitations of the included trials, and had more favourable conclusions than the corresponding Cochrane reviews.
Keywords
Decision SciencesArts and HumanitiesPharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics
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