Association between industry affiliation and position on cardiovascular risk with rosiglitazone: cross sectional systematic review

Objective To explore a possible link between authors’ financial conflicts of interest and their position on the association of rosiglitazone with increased risk of myocardial infarction in patients with diabetes. Data sources On 10 April 2009, we searched Web of Science and Scopus for articles citing and commenting on either of two index publications that contributed key data to the controversy (a meta-analysis of small trials and a subsequent large trial). Data selection Articles had to comment on rosiglitazone and the risk of myocardial infarction. Guidelines, meta-analyses, reviews, clinical trials, letters, commentaries, and editorials were included. Data extraction For each article, we sought information about the authors’ financial conflicts of interest in the report itself and elsewhere (that is, in all publications within two years of the original publication and online). Two reviewers blinded to the authors’ financial relationships independently classified each article as presenting a favourable (that is, rosiglitazone does not increase the risk of myocardial infarction), neutral, or unfavourable view on the risk of myocardial infarction with rosiglitazone and on recommendations on the use of the drug. Results Of the 202 included articles, 108 (53%) had a conflict of interest statement. Ninety authors (45%) had financial conflicts of interest. Authors who had a favourable view of the risk of myocardial infarction with rosiglitazone were more likely to have financial conflicts of interest with manufacturers of antihyperglycaemic agents in general, and with rosiglitazone manufacturers in particular, than authors who had an unfavourable view (rate ratio 3.38, 95% CI 2.26 to 5.06 and 4.29, 2.63 to 7.02, respectively). There was likewise a strong association between favourable recommendations on the use of rosiglitazone and financial conflicts of interest (3.36, 1.94 to 5.83). These links persisted when articles rather than authors were used as the unit of analysis (4.69, 2.84 to 7.72), when the analysis was restricted to opinion articles (6.29, 2.15 to 18.38) or to articles in which the rosiglitazone controversy was the main focus (6.50, 2.56 to 16.53), and both in articles published before and after the Food and Drug Administration issued a safety warning for rosiglitazone (3.43, 0.99 to 11.82 and 4.95, 2.87 to 8.53, respectively). Conclusions Disclosure rates for financial conflicts of interest were unexpectedly low, and there was a clear and strong link between the orientation of authors’ expressed views on the rosiglitazone controversy and their financial conflicts of interest with pharmaceutical companies. Although these findings do not necessarily indicate a causal link between the position taken on the cardiac risk of rosiglitazone in patients with diabetes and the authors’ financial conflicts of interest, they underscore the need for further changes in disclosure procedures in order for the scientific record to be trusted.