The spooky reality behind drug-related news

[Guest guest]

The spooky reality behind drug-related " news "

 

Control tactics

 

For the complete article go to:

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2003/10/09/the_spooky_reality_behind_d

rugrelated_news.htm

 

 

Tricks of the trade...

 

.... " The long and short of the process is this: A drug maker funnels a

highly-educated ghostwriter only the most flattering evidence - much of it

no doubt doctored (no pun intended) - regarding a certain patent medicine's

miraculous effectiveness and utter lack of side effects. ...............

this information is then skillfully crafted by the highly paid and totally

amoral writer into a slick article that's persuasive, thorough, and

seemingly credible enough to gull a reputable (or maybe not-so-reputable)

M.D. into signing his name to it...

 

....as much as half of the peer-reviewed literature on any given drug is

likely nothing more than ghostwritten " infomercials " with a gullible (or

morally sketchy) doctor's byline on it... "

 

 

Chris Gupta

 

......................... the pharmaceutical giants are a major employer of

these ghostwriters to write articles praising their drugs-while POSING AS

DOCTORS!

 

Now, lest you think there's anything shady going on, these articles are

reviewed and given blessing by real MDs. The fact that these doctors are

then paid big bucks by pharmaceutical industry fat cats for allowing

themselves to be billed as the authors shouldn't concern anyone...

...................

 

As if this isn't enough of an ethical quagmire, consider this: Since the

articles aren't even penned by the endorsing doctors, they likely NEVER SEE

all the evidence - especially the negative findings - on the drugs in

question before signing their names to the finished pieces!

 

Where does this " unbiased " evidence come from in the first place? You

guessed it: The completely objective and selfless drug companies

themselves...

 

................................

 

The scary part is that these articles then find their way into some of the

biggest and most respected peer-reviewed journals out there - like the

Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine, and the Canadian Medical

Association Journal. And how's this for warped ethics: The ghostwriter gets

a huge cash bonus if the piece ends up appearing in one of these

high-profile sources!

 

According to CBC's sources, as much as half of the peer-reviewed literature

on any given drug is likely nothing more than ghostwritten " infomercials "

with a gullible (or morally sketchy) doctor's byline on it...

 

How's that make you feel about filling a prescription?

 

Your real life ghost buster,

 

William Campbell Douglass II, MD

 

Posted at October 9, 2003 12:00 AM | TrackBack

 

 

 

 

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