Public Relations Vs. Public Safety?
Is anyone really surprised by the allegations that the pharmaceutical industry puts public relations above public safety?
As consumer advocate Peter Lurie put it: “I’ve seen no shortage of creativity emanating from the marketing departments of drug companies.”
From the creation of fake academic journals, to bogus stories submitted to real journals, to falsified results in some of academia’s most respected publications – the pharmaceutical industry has been rocked by allegations of rampant misconduct and false representations of their products.
Trudo Lemmens, an associate professor of medical law at the University of Toronto, says it should not be left to the civil courts to uncover what he calls “publishing as marketing.”
Mississippi State University bioethicist Barton Moffatt predicts doctors who allow their names to be put on ghostwritten articles may one day find themselves being fired over the practice, adding that many in academia now see the practice as plagiarism.
Lemmens says he would fail any student who handed in a ghostwritten article, adding that universities cracking down on student plagiarism need to pay closer attention to faculty, as well.
You have to ask yourself, why isn’t there more regulatory control?
Lemmens would like to see tougher conflict-of-interest rules and more oversight of how drug trials are conducted, and the results published. I couldn’t agree more. Aren’t we all sick of hearing horror stories of pharmaceuticals causing far more harm than good? Like anti-depressants that lead to teenagers and children committing suicide? When are we going to stand up to these giant drug dealers?
Leave a Reply