Drug company ties to research under scrutiny once again

It's been a guess of mine for some time that the link between medical research studies and the pharmaceutical industry is stronger than any epoxy on earth. No surprise here, since many industries influence anything related to increasing product sales. Why should drugs be any different?

This debate is again on fire a bit as three authors of a recent study on hip fractures did not volunteer information to officials on past consulting gigs for pharmaceutical companies. Is this the selling out of objective journalism? That ship sailed in the medical field long, long ago I'm afraid.

The question is this -- what are we to believe? Should readers have to investigate every single study author and perform a historical breakdown on each author's professional past? Almost seems that way since it is hard to know when (and who) to trust.