44 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 44 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
General News    H4'ed 3/4/10

Ghostbusting in Paxil Birth Defect Litigation

By       (Page 2 of 11 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   No comments
Message Evelyn Pringle

But it involves more than just the true author being concealed, he told the jury. "It's a process where the ghostwriters work for companies who are very good at getting articles into the best journals in the field, like the New England Journal of Medicine, and recruiting some of the best known names in the field to be the apparent authors of the articles."


"They may come from one of the big named universities like Princeton or whoever, but the actual fact the person who appears to be the author isn't the true author," he said. "If you were to read the article, you often don't get any hints of who the true author of the article actually was."


Ghostwriting impacts doctors in the real world trying to make decisions on whether to prescribe a drug in several ways, Healy told the jury. For instance, he said, if he was doing his own writing, he "would write an article on the drug, warts and all."


"But if the article has been written by a ghostwriter working for one of the pharmaceutical companies," he said, "the chances are the warts are somehow going to vanish."


"The article will talk about the good aspects of the drug and will leave out the risky issues which are probably the most important things for the practicing doctor to know," he explained.


If the ghost author comes from an extremely distinguished university, doctors reading the article will think it has to be right, he said. "The simple fact that the article is going to be apparently written by this big named person and appears in an extremely good journal means that most average doctors will think this has to be true," he told the jury.


It's not just the case of the doctor who reads the article being deceived, he said. "It's the fact that the credibility of the institution is and the name is being used to sell the drug, as well."


Healy came face-to-face with ghostwriting when one of the drug companies offered to ghostwrite his articles, he said. Since then, he has researched the ghostwriting process to assess how common it is.


Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Evelyn Pringle Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Evelyn Pringle is an investigative journalist and researcher focused on exposing corruption in government and corporate America.
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Tracking the American Epidemic of Mental Illness - Part II

Tracking the American Epidemic of Mental Illness - Part I

The Rise and Fall of Provigil -" Part I

The Rise and Fall of Provigil - Part II

Psychiatric Drugging of Infants and Toddlers in the US - Part I

Tracking the American Epidemic of Mental Illness - Part III

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend