BMJ Examines Risks of Incretin Therapy

"Incretin mimetics may be more risky than previously thought, given that drug companies have held back data on their potentially harmful effects, says the BMJ. As part of its open data initiative, the journal reviewed thousands of pages of regulatory documents obtained under freedom of information rules and found unpublished data pointing to unwanted proliferative or inflammatory pancreatic effects....In an accompanying editorial, BMJ Editor-in-Chief Fiona Godlee, MD, wrote that "instead of engaging in open debate about legitimate and important scientific questions, the manufacturers have been unwilling to share their data. Meanwhile, patients and doctors have not been kept properly informed about the uncertainties surrounding these drugs....The debate would be much easier to resolve if all the information was placed in the public domain so scientists, doctors, and, ultimately, patients could make up their own minds," Godlee added...."