Big Pharma sure knows how to get the biggest bang for its big bucks–a new study finds a remarkable success rate for drugs in industry-funded studies.

In fact, they almost never fail.

The government-funded review of 546 drug trials published between 2000 and 2006 found that studies funded by the industry had positive outcomes 85 percent of the time.

Remember that number–it’s going to come up again.

Government-funded trials, on the other hand, were like a coin toss: They had positive outcomes 50 percent of the time.

Studies funded by nonprofits and other organizations were positive 72 percent of the time. I’m guessing that’s because of Big Pharma’s substantial influence among these groups. After all, the researchers also found that when these organizations received industry money, their studies also came up positive… (drumroll please)… 85 percent of the time.

A remarkable coincidence, wouldn’t you say? If we could have that kind of luck at the racetrack, we wouldn’t need retirement funds.

Studies done by nonprofits that did not receive Big Pharma money, on the other hand, were positive just 61 percent of the time.

And by “positive” I mean they were positive for the drug, of course–because there’s certainly nothing positive about them for you. The researchers looked at trials for meds like antidepressants, antipsychotics and proton-pump inhibitors–some of our most overused, unnecessary and ineffective drugs.

What’s more, the study also found that Big Pharma-funded trials didn’t always get published. In fact, the researchers say that just 32 percent of industry-funded trials are published within two years of the study’s completion, according to the analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

That means 68 percent are being swept under the carpet. You don’t have to wonder what they found–because other researchers have reported that studies that come up negative often don’t get published.

That would explain that 85 percent success rate.

And that’s not the only way they game the system. I’ve told you before about some of the ways Big Pharma works to make sure its studies come up roses.

One of their favorite tricks is shortening the study… cutting it right off once they get the result they’re looking for. One analysis earlier this year found that shortened studies often dramatically overstate drug effectiveness. (Read “Shortened studies favor Big Pharma.”)

Another analysis found that studies often reach conclusions that are completely at odds with the actual data. (Read “The scientific spin cycle.”)

So while the latest analysis isn’t exactly new, it’s more proof that you simply can’t trust anything that comes from the drug companies.

Not that you actually need more proof at this point.

Sooner isn’t always better… especially when it comes to drug research.

In fact, drug studies that end early–something that happens more often than you might think–tend to exaggerate the med’s effectiveness and miss dangerous side effects and complications, according to a new report.

Researchers compared 91 studies that were cut short to 424 comparable studies that went the distance, and found that the truncated trials overestimated the study drug’s effectiveness by an average of 30 percent.

In some cases, these shortened studies didn’t just make a drug look more effective than it really was… but also magically turned completely ineffective meds into working drugs, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

That’s some parlor trick… but it’s just the research equivalent of smoke and mirrors.

Studies are supposedly cut short only when patients are in danger, or researchers get overwhelmingly convincing evidence of a drug’s effectiveness… but in reality, those latter cases are usually just an early spike in the data.

They know this, by the way. They know it–but still end the study early. After all, that’s how the drug companies that fund most of these researchers like it: Get in, get the result you want, and get out–fast. Shorter trials are cheaper, the drug gets to market faster and they can even switch the placebo patients onto the pricey new med.

And, as an extra bonus, a shortened study is also less likely to reveal any potential problems with the med.

That’s the kind of stock-boosting side effect Big Pharma really likes.

Dr. Victor Montori, author of the new study, called the practice misleading… but he’s being kind. Let’s call this what it really is: a dangerous lie.

These lies can have fatal consequences. For example, a study on beta-blockers was cut short when it found seemingly conclusive evidence that these meds can prevent heart attacks during surgery.

So docs began using them based on that conclusion–and who knows how many lives were lost… because a larger trial later on found that some patients on these meds had significantly higher death rates.

When that happens, we’re well beyond “misleading.”

These trials aren’t cut short by a couple of hours, days or weeks… in some cases, they end years ahead of time. The JUPITER trial on the statin drug Crestor, for example, was cut short by two years.

Two whole years!

It’s like walking out on a movie before the end… and missing the part where the villain rises up and kills the main character.

But this tragic ending wasn’t made by Hollywood. As the new study shows, it was brought to you by Big Pharma.