United States private-sector physicians and pharmaceutical contract research: a qualitative study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There have been dramatic increases over the past 20 years in the number of nonacademic, private-sector physicians who serve as principal investigators on US clinical trials sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. However, there has been little research on the implications of these investigators' role in clinical investigation. Our objective was to study private-sector clinics involved in US pharmaceutical clinical trials to understand the contract research arrangements supporting drug development, and specifically how private-sector physicians engaged in contract research describe their professional identities.

Methods and findings

We conducted a qualitative study in 2003-2004 combining observation at 25 private-sector research organizations in the southwestern

SUBMITTER: Fisher JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3404112 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature