In this issue of CMAJ , Bhandari and colleagues state that their study of 332 randomized trials published between January 1999 and June 2001 shows that industry-funded trials were more likely to be associated with statistically significant pro-industry findings. They state this conclusion is not limited to trials of medical treatments -- it applies to trials of new surgical interventions as well.
In a related commentary, Laurence Hirsch, vice-president of medical communications at Merck Research Laboratories, argues that pharmaceutical companies can only undertake a finite number of trials, and consequently those considered more likely to yield positive results are given higher priority.
p. 477 Association between industry funding and statistically significant pro-industry findings in medical and surgical randomized trials -- M. Bhandari et al
p. 481 Randomized clinical trials: What gets published, and when? -- L. Hirsch
Canadian Medical Association Journal