Healthy Skepticism Library item: 5061

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Fugh-Berman A.
The corporate coauthor.
J Gen Intern Med 2005 Jun; 20:(6):546-8
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.05857.x

Abstract:

Drug marketing techniques include the sponsorship of articles signed by academic physicians or researchers and submitted to peer-reviewed medical journals. Some of these articles are authored or coauthored by ghostwriters who work for pharmaceutical companies or medical education companies hired by pharmaceutical companies. Conflicts of interest may be difficult to detect in the subset of articles and presentations sponsored by pharmaceutical companies that never mention the targeted drug, but focus on stimulating the perceived need for the targeted drug or highlighting problems with competing drugs. The current voluntary standards for declaring conflicts of interest to readers of medical journals and audiences at medical conferences are inadequate. A public database that contains conflicts of interest of physicians and researchers would be useful.

Keywords:
Anticoagulants Authorship* Conflict of Interest* Disclosure* Drug Industry/ethics* Humans Marketing/ethics Marketing/methods Peer Review, Research Periodicals Publishing/ethics* Warfarin