Doctor accuses drugs giant of 'unethical' secrecy

[emad]

Jo Revill, health editor
Sunday December 4, 2005
The Observer


Britain's leading medicines watchdog is to investigate claims made by a senior doctor of 'unethical behaviour' by a major pharmaceutical company over a study of a disease that affects millions of women.

A series of emails and taped telephone conversations passed to The Observer reveal that a highly respected academic in the field of osteoporosis has questioned Procter and Gamble's decision to publish drug research in his name even though he had not been given full access to the data it was based on. The report was written by a 'ghost writer' paid for by P&G before being given to the academic to agree.

The claims made by Dr Aubrey Blumsohn, senior lecturer and bone metabolism specialist at Sheffield University, are to be looked at by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority.

The issue will also be debated by MPs this week when the Commons meets to discuss whether the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry should be strengthened.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1657302,00.html

[Celebration]

1. Everybody should read the full article

Of course, if you do, and use critical thinking skills, you might just pass up the next prescription drug you are offered....... naturally though, through taxes and health insurance, you are paying for all of it anyway, like it or not.

[Codeine]

2. Or perhaps not...

particularly if it's one of the thousands of prescription drugs that saves countless lives every year.

[Celebration]

3. Trouble is

How do you know the difference between one of those drugs and the next Vioxx, which *killed* countless people? When information is hidden, there is some difficulty determining the odds.

[atommom]

4. It's a scary situation when even the researchers are only allowed

to know the facts that the PR team considers important, and the doctors base their prescribing behavior on information from the drug company's PR people. There are some amazing medications out there that do save lives, but it's getting harder and harder to trust the industry not to poison us.