Journals harming patients by restricting pharma-funded research, says consultancy

Patients lose out because medical journals restrict access to pharma-funded research.

That is the controversial claim made by Oxford PharmaGenesis, a UK-based consultancy firm that has had a study published in the open access medical journal, BMJ Open, to back up its argument.

Oxford PharmaGenesis, which works with nine out of the top 10 global pharma companies, claims that the situation is likely to impede further research and delay patient benefit, with some 50% of medical research coming from the industry.