Business's Influence Over Science

As part of my Junior theme research, I uncovered the influence that the pharmaceutical industry can have over the conclusions of scientific studies. Through my research, I found that scientific studies funded by the pharmaceutical industry disproportionately support drugs companies. For instance, in 2006, GlaxoSmithKline payed all eleven of the authors of the study that influenced the FDA's approval of their drug, Avandia. Four of the authors were even companies employees who held company stock (Washington Post). Because of that conflict of interest, the evidence used to prove Avandia's safety is incredibly biased.

This is not a problem isolated to the pharmaceutical industry however. Companies in the sugar industry also heavily compensate scientists that research the health effects of high amounts of sugar consumption. According to a segment from John Oliver's Last Week Tonight,  88.3 percent of independent studies on the relationship between sugar and weight gain have found direct links between the two. However, "the vast majority of studies" that have received funding from companies in the sugar industry find "the exact opposite of that". Other studies corroborate this bold claim. One such study from PLOS Medicine reveals that a study with funding from a food or drink company is five times more likely to not support the connection between sugar and weight gain than a study without funding.  While it seems unfair to jump to the conclusion that large corporations such as CocaCola or PepsiCola are manipulating science, clearly the money they spend funding scientific research must have some impact because the majority of science disagrees with them.

Nobody can blame CocaCola for defending themselves, but the motive is there: the company has funded scientists directly in response to accusation that CocaCola's products contribute to America's obesity crisis. Luckily in 2015, the majority of consumers understand that excessive sugar consumption is bad for health. It should not be a concern that food and drink companies are tricking people in this way. The concerning part is that food and drink companies have the ability to influence science in this way. If companies can cause researchers to contradict a claim as widely accepted as sugar causes obesity, then they could certainly influence lesser known or emerging health knowledge. I wonder what else food and drink companies might not want the public to know.