JAMA tightens rules affecting its authors

Editors of The Journal of the American Medical Association say they will increase the disclosure requirements demanded of research writers.

The action follows several instances in which JAMA research authors failed to disclose their financial ties with drug makers.

The Wall Street Journal said JAMA also this week issued a correction to a study published in February reporting pregnant women who stopped taking antidepressant medication were more likely to suffer a relapse than those who continued taking medication. The correction says that seven of the 13 authors had undisclosed relationships with drug makers.

The new rules require medical researchers to report their connections with drug companies and medical-device makers. Some critics say the measures don't go far enough and should mandate a ban on those who fail to disclose they are receiving money from the pharmaceutical industry, The Wall Street Journal said.

The seven authors cited by JAMA -- from the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University and the University of California-Los Angeles -- said they did not report more than 60 financial relationships with a broad array of drug makers because their studies were funded by the government and did not evaluate a specific drug.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International