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Ghosted Journal Articles Undermine Integrity of Medicine

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_Ghosted Journal Articles Undermine Integrity of Medicine_

(http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/news.php?start=2800 & end=2820 & view=yes & id=3667\

#newspost)

_http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/news.php?start=2800 & end=2820 & view=yes & id=

3667#newspost_

(http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk/news.php?start=2800 & end=2820 & view=yes & id=3667\

#newspost)

 

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION (AHRP)

A Catalyst for Public Debate: Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and

Accountability

 

 

For years we have disseminated reports documenting one after another

uncovered case of corruption demonstrating that so-called **peer review** is a

sham: clinical trials, journal publications, and the practice of medicine

have been corrupted by the commercial influence of pharmaceutical companies.

 

Today's New York Times reports (below) that **court documents provide a

paper trail showing that Wyeth contracted with a medical communications

company to outline articles, draft them and then solicit top physicians to sign

their names, even though many of the doctors contributed little or no

writing.**

 

It is a sordid example of corruption in medicine, but hardly unique. In

this case, 26 ghostwritten articles signed by prominent academic Obg/ Gyn

physicians, were published in 18 journals, promoting Wyeth's hormone

replacement therapy, Premarin--a treatment that has been linked to increased

breast

cancer, stoke, and dementia.

 

The issue of ghostwritten promotional articles, signed by prominent

academic scientists at prestigious medical centers, is not a newly discovered

form of corruption. It was raised as early as 1998 (Carey, Fontarosa, et al)

[1].

 

Last year, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association

(JAMA) revealed that Merck commissioned ghostwriters to produce dozens of

articles pushing Vioxx, a drug that caused thousands of cardiac deaths. And

this year, documents uncovered in an Australian court showed that Merck even

commissioned a fake journal published by Elsevier: **The drug company

also allegedly produced an entire journal - called The Australasian Journal of

Bone and Joint Medicine - and passed it off as an independent peer review

publication.** See _HERE_ (http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/print/55671/)

_http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/print/55671/_

(http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/print/55671/)

 

 

Eli Lilly paid ghostwriters to push Zyprexa; and Pfizer-funded

ghostwriters generated 85 articles about Zoloft in the late 1990s, according to

the

British Journal of Psychiatry. [2]

 

Yet, no meaningful disciplinary action has been taken against anyone:

academics continue to append their name to ghostwritten articles for cash;

journals taken no steps to cleanse the medical-scientific literature of

ghostwritten, hence, fraudulent articles; nor have steps even been taken to

bring

transparency to " peer review. "

 

Our view that this is an endemic problem linked to industry's influence on

medicine, is corroborated by a spokesman for Wyeth who acknowledged that

" pharmaceutical companies routinely hired medical writing companies to

assist authors in drafting manuscripts. " When a High School student pens his

name to an article written by someone else, it's called cheating, earning the

student an F grade and precluding entry into a reputable college.

 

Shouldn't we expect medical professionals at major academic institutions

to, at the very least, adhere to academic standards required of High School

students?

 

Dr. Daniel Carlat suggests that the proper collective response from all of

the participants in fraud should have been: " We sincerely apologize for

having deceived the medical community by engaging in ghostwriting without

disclosure. We have contributed to the erosion of the public's trust in

medicine, and we regret it. " See _HERE_

(http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2009/08/ghostwriting-for-premarin-steroids\

-on.html)

_http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2009/08/ghostwriting-for-premarin-ster

oids-on.html_

(http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2009/08/ghostwriting-for-premarin-steroids\

-on.html)

 

 

References:

 

1. Flanagin A, Carey LA, Fontanarosa PB, Phillips SG, Pace BP, et al.

(1998) Prevalence of articles with honorary authors and ghost authors in

peer-reviewed medical journals. JAMA 280: 222-224.

 

2. Healy D, Cattell D (2003) Interface between authorship, industry and

science in the domain of therapeutics. Br J Psychiatry 183: 22-27.

 

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

212-595-8974

_veracare_ (veracare)

 

 

 

THE NEW YORK TIMES

August 5, 2009

_Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy_

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/health/research/05ghost.html?hp)

By NATASHA SINGER

 

 

(http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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