Wednesday, May 27, 2015
In a deal that is likely to spark controversy, leading Australian vitamin manufacturer Blackmores has donated $1.3 million to the University of Sydney to fund research into the effectiveness of alternative treatments such as acupuncture, herbs and meditation.
The Maurice Blackmore Chair in Integrative Medicine, which is expected to run for five years, will educate student doctors about complementary medicines and how they interact with conventional treatments.
The dean of the Sydney Medical School, Bruce Robinson, said doctors could no longer dismiss complementary medicines.
"Many of my patients bring usually Chinese bottles along to a consultation and show them to me, and to be frank, I have no idea what's in them and what they're going to do," Professor Robinson said.
"I think it's important we at least have our graduates leave with a basic understanding of what some of these alternative preparations might do and how they might interact with the other medicines they prescribe."
The chair's first clinical trial will examine the effectiveness of a rare mushroom found only in Tibet, which proponents say blocks the painful inflammatory process of osteoarthritis.
Blackmores chairman Marcus Blackmore said 70 per cent of Australians used complementary and alternative medicines and he was excited to support the program.
"The beautiful thing is the university and Blackmores Institute have a shared vision about healthier, happier Australians. It's a very patient-oriented approach to what we're trying to do," he said.
But some observers raised concerns about the deal between Blackmores and Australia's oldest university.
Dr Ken Harvey resigned his position at La Trobe University's School of Public Health last year when it accepted a $15 million donation from the vitamins company Swisse to research its products.
"We do find that research done by universities which is commercially sponsored tends to be more positive than research done independently," Dr Harvey said.
"And we also know that some researchers, either inadvertently or deliberately, can game the system to get positive results which might be useful for their continued employment.
"Ideally, it would be better if the money was given out perhaps by the National Health and Medical Research Council and made available for independent researchers to compete for, rather than a particular grant to a particular university."
Donation has no strings attached: university
The University of Sydney approached Blackmores about the partnership and said the donation came without any strings attached.
"We are the ones who make all the decisions about who's appointed to the chair and what research we undertake," Professor Robinson said.
He described the agreement with Blackmores as an "arm's length one".
The researchers will not be testing Blackmores products and the company will have no input into what studies are done.
"Blackmores has no role in the way the results of that research are communicated and they have no ability to limit [us disseminating] the results of that research," Professor Robinson said.
But Blackmores Institute director Lesley Braun will be on the selection panel that chooses who fills the chair of integrative medicine.
Mr Blackmore said it was a mutually beneficial relationship and he had no intention of intervening in the university's research.
"Will this give us some credibility? I'm sure it will," he said.
"But there's no suggestion whatsoever that there's any profit motive in this. In fact, it's costing us a lot of money obviously."
Dr Harvey said some safeguards could be put in place to ensure research was done properly if commercial interests were involved.
"It is important that the researchers conducting the research ask the questions," he said.
"They shouldn't be asked to prove companies' products work, which has been the requirement of a particular company in the past. They should ask the questions which they feel are worth answering, and ask them from a scientific point of view.
"The companies should not be involved in devising the protocols or reviewing the results."
The person appointed to the new University of Sydney role will work across the institution.
"We will collaborate with our international partners in Canada, China and Asia, and proposed schools in the USA and UK," Professor Robinson said.
"The role will also work closely with leading centres within the university, such as the Charles Perkins Centre, the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, the Woolcock Institute, the Kolling Institute and our eight clinical schools."
abc.net.au
