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British Doctor Faces Action Over Claims Of 'Ghost Writing' For P&G

BoneLady
1 Recommendation

The General Medical Council will call Professor Richard Eastell in front of a fitness to practice committee. Eastell, a bone expert at Sheffield University, has admitted he allowed his name to go forward as first author of a study on an osteoporosis drug even though he did not have access to all the data on which the study's conclusions were based. An employee of Proctor and Gamble, the US company making Actonel, was the only author who had all the figures.

To read the rest of the article, click here:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/sep/18/doctors-ghost-writing-pharmac eutical-research

Explore topics in this discussion:

Premarin Hormone replacement therapy Actonel Prempro Osteoporosis Mental health

11 replies

millie123

How shocking! How---gasp!---unbelievable! (Not.)
How TYPICAL.

petplant

There is a doctor (Dr. Bachmann - associate dean for women's health at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J.), who was mentioned in a newpaper article for being the first author of an article that she did not write. She is a gynecologist who does osteoporosis studies & clinical trials. Scary, isn't it?
http://www.reportingonhealth.org/blogs/doctors-behaving-badly-gynecologist- has-excellent-adventure-pharma-ghostwriter

petplant

Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/health/research/05ghost.html?_r=2&pagewan ted=1

BoneLady

petplant,

Thank you for the excellent links. Yes, it is scary.

BoneLady

millie123,

I couldn't agree with you more! But how I wish it were not so!

Maybe, with enough bad publicity, there will be some positive changes. The New York Times article cited by petplant says the American Medical Association Journal has begun requiring more information from authors about their contributions to articles for publication.

millie123

I always look for the info at the bottom of the page that indicates who financed the research.

zeta

I am co-owner of a small osteoporosis group myself, and we have posted several of these reports lately. I've seen so many I'm not shocked anymore, just discusted by such unethical, behavior. I find it hard to understand how anyone could have faith in Big Pharma with this kind of deception going on. Let's not mince words, this is a slap in the face--pop those pills, but don't worry the valitity of the research! And these are the 'professionals' that supposedly care about us. What a sick joke. I'll just keep doing my own research and rely on reports that have NOT been funded by drug companies. Professionals my you know what!

zeta

BoneLady

millie123,

It is always a good idea to look for information about who financed the research. However, the problem is that some companies have found ways to hide this information so that the drug company's name never appears on the papers.

The NY Times article explains how Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company, hired a medical communications firm to draft several papers on the benefits of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). These ghostwritten articles were published in prestigious journals, and the fact that Wyeth initiated and paid for the research was not disclosed at all. These articles helped sales of Wyeth's hormone drugs Premarin and Prempro soar to nearly $2 billion in 2001.

BoneLady

zeta,

I'm feeling a bit jaded myself these days. I remember a time when I had faith in research papers published in prestigious journals. I believed that their journalistic standards were high enough to screen out papers that did not have research of the highest quality and researchers/writers without bias. I no longer have such trust.

AussieLass

bonelady,

I see here the problems you were alluding to in an earlier discussion - you said it was currently happening.

This exerpt (from your excellent article) goes to the crux of the problem and provides the solution, so worthwhile pulling it up here.

'Tim Kendall, joint director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, says the problem is the close relationship between doctors and the industry. "Some doctors don't seem to see the relationship … as problematic."

A study of 4,000 physicians found that 96% received money from drug companies, and yet "the majority did not see it as a conflict of interest", he said.

"I do think there needs to be a national debate in this country about the interpenetration of medicine and the pharmaceutical industry." '

What I would like to know is why is it taking so long? Lives are ultimately being put at risk due to greed.

Nothing has changed since that documentary I keep harping on!

Thanks bonelady for putting it out there. The more it's talked about, the more indignation it creates, the greater the likelihood that change will be brought to bear.

I might be an Aussie but the repurcussions are global. A global problem with global repurcussions?

BoneLady

AussieLass,

Thank you for your comments and quotations. This is indeed a global problem!

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