Procter & Gamble - "Bill of Rights" for academic researchers

P & G has promised to give a full guarantee of independence to academic researchers whose work it funds in a move that follows widespread concern over the company's handling of a major UK drugs study.

An investigation by The Observer last year into allegations that researchers from Sheffield University were not allowed full access to the data they produced for the company has resulted in a 'bill of rights' being published by Procter & Gamble.

Whistleblower Dr Aubrey Blumsohn claims P&G prevented him being allowed to analyse properly the full sets of information that formed the basis for medical reports about a high-earning osteoporosis drug called Actonel, even though the findings were published under his name.

The data - looking at the effect of the drug on women to see whether it prevented fractures - were collected in Blumsohn's Sheffield laboratory in 2002, and then analysed in P&G's headquarters in Egham, Surrey.

His revelations caused enormous tension in the medical research world, partly because British universities are becoming increasingly reliant on pharmaceutical funding for research, while academics have no power to insist on full independence from the companies that sponsor them.

Now Blumsohn's campaign appears to have paid off.

P&G last week confirmed it had written a 'bill of rights' setting out the rights of researchers to have access to all the data relevant to their work, so that they can 'confirm the accuracy of statements and conclusions published with them as co-authors'.

There is no suggestion that Actonel is unsafe or does not work for women with osteoporosis. At the time of Blumsohn's complaint, P&G maintained that it was 'standard industry practice' to limit researchers' access to data.

Insiders' view: And now, it seems, it is not! Quite a turnaround. Well done Aubrey.

Source: The Guardian