Correspondence

Use of Trade Names of Drugs in Abstracts from Pain Congresses

N Engl J Med 2000; 343:818September 14, 2000

Article

To the Editor:

Several studies have addressed interactions between pharmaceutical companies and physicians with respect to continuing medical education, the provision of gifts and promotional materials, and research, analyzing whether and how these interactions affect the prescribing practices, attitudes, and behavior of physicians.1,2 We analyzed trends in the use of trade names in abstracts from or presentations at scientific meetings as a way of promoting a drug.

The World Congress on Pain of the International Association for the Study of Pain, which takes place every three years, is an important forum for the dissemination of knowledge about the treatment of pain. We reviewed the published abstracts of the congresses that occurred in 1993,3 1996,4 and 19995 and identified abstracts that described clinical studies of opioid analgesic drugs to determine the frequency of use of trade names according to the type of affiliations of the authors: pharmaceutical industry alone, pharmaceutical industry and other institutions (either private or academic medical centers), or other institutions alone.

We reviewed a total of 1548 abstracts for the 1993 meeting, 1480 abstracts for the 1996 meeting, and 1480 abstracts for the 1999 meeting. Of these, 160 (10 percent), 107 (7 percent), and 99 (7 percent), respectively, met our criteria (Table 1Table 1Frequency of the Use of Trade Names in Abstracts, According to Authors' Affiliations.). The proportion of abstracts containing a trade name increased significantly from 19 percent in 1993 to 36 percent in 1999, an increase of 89 percent (P=0.007). The use of trade names was most common in abstracts of research sponsored by pharmaceutical companies alone (64 percent) and least common when the authors had no company affiliation (15 percent, P<0.001). Trade names were used in 63 of 109 abstracts (58 percent) describing studies of the more expensive slow-release opioids, as compared with 32 of 332 abstracts describing studies of other opioids (10 percent, P<0.001).

This increase in the use of trade names is unnecessary for scientific reasons and raises ethical issues. First, the scientific sessions could become a forum for advertisements. Second, drug companies may submit abstracts in order to enter the trade names of their products into the abstract book.

Some practical solutions to these issues include not allowing the use of trade names in the title or text of abstracts and disclosing the industry affiliations of authors or industry sponsorship in all abstracts. The same rules should apply to oral and poster presentations.

Eduardo Bruera, M.D.
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030

Carla Ripamonti, M.D.
National Cancer Institute, 20133 Milan, Italy

Leaha Beattie-Palmer, B.S.N.
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030

5 References

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   Kessler DA. Drug promotion and scientific exchange: the role of the clinical investigator. N Engl J Med 1991;325:201-203
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   Wazana A. Physicians and the pharmaceutical industry: is a gift ever just a gift? JAMA 2000;283:373-380
   CrossRef | Web of Science | Medline

3. 3

   Gebhardt G, Hammond D, Jensen T, eds. Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Pain, August 22–25, 1993. Seattle: IASP Press, 1994.
   

4. 4

   Jensen TS, Turner JA, Wiesenfeld-Hallin Z, eds. Proceedings of the 8th World Congress on Pain, August 17–22, 1996. Seattle: IASP Press, 1997.
   

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   Devor M, Rowbotham MC, Wiesenfeld-Hallin Z, eds. Proceedings of the 9th World Congress on Pain, August 22–27, 1999. Seattle: IASP Press, 2000.
   

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Citing Articles

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   Luis H. Camacho, Jennifer Bacik, Alexander Cheung, David R. Spriggs. (2005) Presentation and subsequent publication rates of phase I oncology clinical trials. Cancer 104:7, 1497-1504
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2. 2

   Abdulla Manima. (2004) Ethical Issues in Palliative Care. Journal of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy 17:3-4, 141-149
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3. 3

      . (2002) Merknamen tijdens pijncongressen en in abstracts. Medisch-Farmaceutische Mededelingen 40:1, 27-27
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