Seeding Trials
One technique used by drug companies to promote “me too” drugs are “seeding” trials.
When a company-sponsored trial of an approved drug serves little or no scientific purpose, but are, in fact, thinly veiled attempts to entice doctors to prescribe a new drug being marketed by the company, they are often referred to as “seeding trials.”
Features that distinguish such trials from scientifically rigorous studies include:
· stated research goals not supported by the design
· Recruitment of investigators because they are frequent prescribers of competing products in the same therapeutic class and not because they are experts researchers in the field
· High payments given to “investigators” for their work (although the only work may be to write prescriptions for the drug),
· The study is sponsored by the company’s sales and marketing division rather than its research department,
· Minimal requirements for data, and the collection of data that are of little or no value to the company.
Typically, these trials involve introducing a new drug in a crowded therapeutic class. The idea is to undo the physicians’ old habits of prescribing a competing, more established product and start a trend toward prescribing the new “me too” drug.
22/08: Who’s watching the Pharm?
Category: General
Posted by: Bseel
Currently, in this country, if a person or groups of people, are injured as a result of a drug (pharmaceutical) our tort system allows the injured party to sue the company for damages. As with any lawsuit for personal injury, there are several requirements that prevent the act of “suing” the company from becoming “frivolous”. The injury has to have caused damages and has to be as a result of the drug. (causation) Furthermore, it will have to be proved that the company knew of the problem and did nothing about it.
Until the lawsuit is filed, the pharmacuetical companies do not have to share any of what they knew or did not know about the problem with anyone. Problems with drugs in developement are supposed to be reported to the FDA but it has been shown time and again that is not always the case.
Now, there is a case in the Supreme Court, that has the potential to make pharmacuetical companies immune to lawsuits if a particular drug has already recieved FDA approval. The purpose of this blog is to discuss some of the problems in the current system and explain why this is a bad idea for comsumers. Read more at