"Drug marketing is a very sophisticated system which corrupts every part of the scientific and medical network,"

A FLINDERS University study has exposed "corrupt" drug company marketing practices including covering up adverse side effects and pushing patients on to new, more expensive drugs even when they are less effective.

Psychiatrist Peter Parry and American colleague Glen Spielmans studied 400 internal emails and research documents unearthed mainly through court cases.

"Drug marketing is a very sophisticated system which corrupts every part of the scientific and medical network," Dr Parry said.

Dr Parry said one disturbing finding was that, regardless of the health benefits, drug companies were pushing patients towards their own patented drugs because they could make bigger profits. Such products were called "blockbuster drugs" in the industry because they could make more than $1 billion in profits.

The documents, sourced from US and European companies which also market and sell their products in Australia, indicate:

INSTRUCTIONS to sales representatives not to mention weight gain side effects of the drug Zyprexa.

HIDING the weight-gain side effects of anti-psychotic drug Seroquel.

EXAGGERATING the benefits of Seroquel over an existing medication.

DISTORTION of research trials by excluding the results of some patients, not publishing the findings or making up statistical reasons to exclude some "bad apple" results.

GHOST writing of medical journal articles by marketers with the names of doctors used as "honorary" authors.

All of the drug companies involved rejected the conclusions of the study, published in the journal Bioethical Inquiry, arguing the documents on which it is based are taken out of context as evidence in court cases.

Dr Parry said while he supported the use of drugs in psychiatry, all results of research should be made available to prescribing doctors.

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