Doctors spilling confidential drug-trial results

In an effort to get physicians psyched over drugs soon to hit the market, pharmaceutical companies often give physicians advance notice about pending releases, usually well in advance of major medical trade shows. The pharmas protect the news by making physicians sign confidentiality agreements, but despite the agreements, it appears that the physicians often tattle anyway. Increasingly, regulators have noticed that biotech company stocks fluctuate wildly prior to these conferences, suggesting that physicians are leaking this purportedly confidential information. For example, prior to the June meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, shares of biotech firm ImClone have tanked, provoking talk that some of the 24,000 pre-briefed doctors had been gossiping about negative study results on one of its cancer treatments.

To get more background on this trend:
- read this United Press International article