BMJ  2004;329:64-65 (10 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7457.64

Editorial

Open access to industry's clinically relevant data

Urgently needed, but when will we get it, and in what form?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Last month GlaxoSmithKline announced that it would publish summaries of all its clinical trials of a new product once it had been launched.¹ This decision followed news of a lawsuit brought by New York State alleging that the company had concealed the results of trials of paroxetine because they might have spoilt marketing plans. GSK said it had been considering the move for some months. A similar sounding policy was announced by Glaxo Wellcome in 1998² but seems to have been quietly abandoned in 2000 after the merger with Smith KlineBeecham.

The arguments for free public access to all clinically relevant data on a company's drug have been stated many times: clinicians, patients, and the institutions that pay for health services all need the data to make good choices and to use drugs in the best ways, maximising their benefits and minimising harms. That is true not only for individual . . . [Full text of this article]

(andrew_herxheimer@compuserve.com) London N3 2NL

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