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. 2003 Apr;18(4):294-7.
doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20703.x.

The quantity and quality of scientific graphs in pharmaceutical advertisements

Richelle J Cooper  1 , David L Schriger, Roger C Wallace, Vladislav J Mikulich, Michael S Wilkes
Affiliations

The quantity and quality of scientific graphs in pharmaceutical advertisements

Richelle J Cooper et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2003 Apr.

Abstract

We characterized the quantity and quality of graphs in all pharmaceutical advertisements, in the 10 U.S. medical journals. Four hundred eighty-four unique advertisements (of 3,185 total advertisements) contained 836 glossy and 455 small-print pages. Forty-nine percent of glossy page area was nonscientific figures/images, 0.4% tables, and 1.6% scientific graphs (74 graphs in 64 advertisements). All 74 graphs were univariate displays, 4% were distributions, and 4% contained confidence intervals for summary measures. Extraneous decoration (66%) and redundancy (46%) were common. Fifty-eight percent of graphs presented an outcome relevant to the drug's indication. Numeric distortion, specifically prohibited by FDA regulations, occurred in 36% of graphs.

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Comment in

  • Pharma's bad karma. Resistance is not futile.
    Carrasquillo O, Goodman RL. Carrasquillo O, et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2003 Apr;18(4):315-6. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.30290.x. J Gen Intern Med. 2003. PMID: 12709101 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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