Protecting Scientific Integrity: The Commercial Speech Doctrine Applied to Industry Publications

Pharmaceutical companies face increasing pressure to bring new treatments to market in order to survive. The economic reality of survival and profits may distort a company’s decision-making process regarding full disclosure on a particular new drug. Part II of this article analyzes the publication tactics employed by some members of the pharmaceutical industry (hereinafter “industry”) and explains how some of the publications promote misleading information. Part III proposes policy recommendations to require accurate dissemination of the results of clinical trials in order to protect scientific integrity and the public welfare. Part IV of this article addresses whether industry publications are fully protected scientific speech or less fully protected commercial speech, and it concludes that the industry publications fall within the latter category