[e-drug] Accounts of whistleblowers on drug safety in the US

["Klara Tisocki" <ktisocki@yahoo.ie>]

E-DRUG: Accounts of whistleblowers on drug safety in the US
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[It was impossible to include the full texts of these quite long essays on e-drug but Klara has kindly agreed to forward them directly to you.  If you are interested, contact "Klara Tisocki" <ktisocki@yahoo.ie>   BS]

Two interesting and provocative essays on drug promotion and drug safety were recently published by PLoS Medicine. One article is written by Richard Smith the former editor of BMJ and the other summarises opinions of four high profile medical whistleblowers from the US.  
Below are short excerpt from each and the links (free access to all, as PloS is an open-access source).
Remember to repair links! 

Smith R (2005) Medical Journals Are an Extension of the Marketing Arm of Pharmaceutical Companies. PLoS Med 2(5): e138

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020138

'Journals have devolved into information laundering operations for the pharmaceutical
industry', wrote Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet, in March 2004 [1]. In the same year, Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, lambasted the industry for becoming 'primarily a marketing machine' and co-opting 'every institution that might stand in its way'

Lenzer J (2005) What Can We Learn from Medical Whistleblowers? PLoS Med 2(7): e209

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020209

'Whistleblowers have been compared to bees' they have just one sting to use and using
it may lead to career suicide [11]. Many of the whistleblowers at the roundtable said they had
experienced retaliation from their employers for raising concerns, but all had felt obligated to speak out about practices in medicine and medical research that they believe are risking the public's health or safety.

For those without internet access I will be happy to forward the pdf files, if they e-mail me at
ktisocki@yahoo.ie


Dr Klara Tisocki
Clinical Pharmacologist
 B. Pharm., M.Sc., Ph.D.
ktisocki@yahoo.ie