How Drug Companies Deceive Medical Journals
The Guardian, December 7, 2003 (Click to read entire article)
The medical journals have enormous influence on which drugs doctors prescribe and the treatment hospitals provide. It has been revealed that hundreds of journals were never written by doctors but by ghostwriters, who the pharmaceutical companies hire.
By lending their name and reputation on the journals, the doctors can get paid a well-off amount of money while the ghostwriters remain hidden.
Another field where ghostwriting is becoming an increasing problem is psychiatry.
Our Comment:
This article contains excellent evidence documenting the powerful influence that the drug companies have on the media and public, as well as on the minds of unsuspecting doctors who prescribe drugs.
When you are dealing with issues as important as medical research and drug effects that will affect doctors’ opinions and the drugs they prescribe to people, it is of the utmost importance that the data be accurate.
Fortunately, we don’t have to be fooled any more. It is always important to find out who really wrote a medical journal article (not just the names of the doctors on the article) and who funded the study. The old saying, “follow the money”, is more accurate than ever today.