The Essence of the Investigated Issue
There is a clear potential conflict of interest in the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (SADRs) when viewed from the perspective of pharmaceutical companies. It is possible that if a drug manufacturing company discovers that its drug has adverse reactions such as suicide among its users, economic considerations in terms of the amount of money the company has already invested in producing the drug will make the company downplay the adverse effects of the drug. In this case, the drug will out to the market and be used by customers who will continue getting affected by the negative side effects or adverse effects. In this case, the vested interest of the company in the issue of adverse drug reactions will have made its report erroneously. Another dimension of conflict of interest in reporting adverse drug reactions may exist among rival organizations that have connections to alternative drugs for the same conditioning this case, if a reviewer of drug information is picked from a section that also produces drugs that deal with the same problem, the reviewer may tend to exaggerate the adverse effects of the drug under review as a way of pushing customers to the alternative.
The Vastness of the Conflict of Interest in Reporting Adverse Drug Reactions
Conflict of interest in reporting adverse drug Reactions is a huge problem. This is because of the possibility of a company producing a drug that has adverse side effects and then failing to make this information available to members of the public. This will lead to a scenario where we have users of the said drug experiencing adverse reactions because of using the drug. The outcomes would include death, the development of other serious or less serious medical conditions or health complications, and the spending of more money in seeking treatment which will negatively affect the economic status of the concerned users.
The ways to deal with the problem of conflict of interest in reporting Adverse Drug Reactions
The first way to deal with the problem of conflict of interest in reporting Adverse Drug Reactions is by having the government of the United States Congress set up an independent body to make thorough investigations of all drugs that are suspected to be having adverse reactions on the people who use them. The information available to the manufacturing companies should also be checked as well as the information these companies have made available to users of these drugs or members of the public. In addition to this, serious penalties should be set for companies that withhold information regarding adverse drug effects from members of the public who use the concerned drugs. This will help prohibit companies from withholding this information that is likely to help customers make informed decisions while handling drugs that are likely to affect their health negatively.
The government should also ensure that its physicians as well as other specialists are aware of the drugs being produced by pharmaceutical companies through the presence of these officials during the experimentation process. This will enable these officials to have some information regarding the behavior or effects of the drugs even before they are released to the market by the pharmaceutical companies. This way, drugs with adverse reactions may be intercepted even before they reach consumers.