How Drug Company Money Is Undermining Science

The pharmaceutical industry funnels money to prominent scientists who are doing research that affects its products--and nobody can stop it

By Charles Seife

Image: Goni Montes

Many researchers maintain close financial ties to the drug companies that stand to gain from the results of their research.
Congress passed the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which, starting in 2013, will compel pharmaceutical firms and medical device manufacturers to reveal most of the money that they are putting into the pockets of physicians.
Yet as the case study in this article shows, neither scientific institutions nor the scientists themselves have shown a willingness to police conflicts of interest in research.