Stroke Thrombolytic Researchers Have Strong Ties to Pharma

Recently the American Heart Association's (AHA's) strong endorsement of thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke (Class I: “definitely recommended”) has come under scrutiny because examination of guidelines revealed conflicts of interest on the part of the guideline authors. In the current study, an investigator conducted a comprehensive search of the literature on thrombolysis for stroke and then examined the 20 most-cited articles for disclosures of financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies.

Disclosures were noted in 17 articles. One example of potential conflict is the European Cooperative Acute Stroke Study (ECASS III), which showed that the window of treatment could be extended from 3 to 4.5 hours (JW Emerg Med Sep 24 2008). Th…