title: Of conflicts, conspiracies, red herrings, and black swans.
abstract: The impact of the findings from the Women's Health Initiative trial of estrogen plus progestin cannot be attributed to any real or imagined conflicts of interest between government, researchers, and journals. Rather, the findings overturned decades of dogma in part promoted by the pharmaceutical industry, and the reaction to these unexpected findings was in direct proportion to their importance in reversing a misguided practice of prescribing the drug for chronic disease prevention. The findings have been widely accepted, as shown by the sustained subsequent reduction in prescriptions. However, conflicts of interest may influence a minority unwilling to accept the findings. The decrease in the use of a drug with an adverse risk profile for prevention of chronic disease is a public good.
authors.affiliation: * University at Buffalo , Buffalo, New York.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wactawski-Wende
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000191:economics*; D016265:Conflict of Interest; D006076:Government; D006801:Humans; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000941:ethics*; D012109:Research Support as Topic
keywords: COI; CONFLICT OF INTEREST; GOVERNMENT FUNDING; INDUSTRY FUNDING; INSTITUTES OF HEALTH; NIH; WHI; WOMEN’S HEALTH INITIATIVE