Doctors Downplaying Drug’s Suicide Risks Attract FDA’s Scrutiny
- Drugmaker has proposed changing warning label on suicide risk
- Physicians receiving Pfizer money reported fewer side effects
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a message for doctors: The money you’re taking from pharmaceutical companies may be clouding your judgment.
Research sites where Pfizer Inc. had paid doctors at least $25,000 in speaking, consulting or other fees reported sunnier results for its smoking-cessation drug Chantix, the FDA disclosed Monday. At those sites, doctors studying the drug’s possible link to suicide risk and other behavior changes reported fewer side effects than at locations where colleagues accepted lower or no payments.