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Drug Companies Ghost-Write Research Articles, Journal Claims

Apr 21st, 2008 • Posted in: News

We’ve given away our profession,” says JAMA editor

NEW YORK
Drug companies sometimes pay academic scientists to take public credit for research articles authored by medical writers employed by drug companies, alleges the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

According to Investor’s Business Daily, the latest edition of JAMA says the ghostwritten articles are then published in peer-reviewed journals, a practice the JAMA article warns can lead to dissemination of biased research resulting improper treatment.

“We’ve got to stop this,” JAMA editor Dr. Catherine DeAngelis told the Baltimore Sun. “People are being hurt. We’ve given away our profession.”

Merck, one of the drug companies singled out by the Journal, denied any impropriety and said it was committed to high standards of scientific integrity and ethics, according to the Canadian Press news service.

In addition, according to an editorial in the Newark, New Jersey, Star-Ledger, Merck charges that the JAMA article authors are actually in a conflict of interest themselves because they previously worked for some of the plaintiffs suing the company over side effects from the drug Vioxx, which was pulled from the market in 2004.

Sources: Investor’s Business Daily, Apr. 18 — Baltimore Sun, Apr. 18 — Newark Star-Ledger, Apr. 18 — Canadian Press, Apr. 16 — Washington Post, Apr. 16.

For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Mar. 31 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 17 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 10 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 3 — Related Newsline story, Feb. 4 — Abstract of JAMA article, Apr. 14.

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3 Responses »

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