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Beware Big Pharma Ghostwriters

Dr. Marc-André Gagnon, an assistant professor with the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University and Dr. Sergio Sismondo, professor of Philosophy and Sociology at Queen’s University, write an op-ed about the growing problem of big pharmaceutical companies ghost writing opinion pieces in support of their drugs.

One Comment

  1. They’re not drugs, they’re “meds”…
    In the past ten years or so, I’ve noticed a whole lot of people chewing a multitude of “meds” (the nice name that has made them NotDrugs) . I am particularly concerned about the amount of pharmacological dope that women seem to be fed; I don’t think I know a single woman that isn’t dropping a pill of some kind, and most have an entire array of colours in their purses.
    The medical establishment’s self-perception appears to have shifted from curing a patient’s ailment(s), to entrenching a monthly expenditure on pharmaceuticals, creating “treatment” in-perpetuity. This ghost-writing, assisting in the endeavour, is an ugly side of the information age that professional exploiters seem to be getting proficient at. Yet, this group is almost certainly not going to qualify for the type of scrutiny that groups like the CRIA are pointing a finger at.
    This blog post is yet another reason the internet should remain unhindered. While a free net may not stop ghost-writers from promoting the circumstance, at least the option to be aware of their methods exists for those who want to be aware.