Ghostwriting Parades

Ghostwriting is a typical practice in the academic world and is not limited to the medical profession.

You have a broad range of special interest groups that can influence social policy from outside the elected officials office from a more indirect manner, and that is through benefactor activities.

You will find this in scholarships, fellowships, and most other funding initiatives. Take foster care for example. You have universities who set up their own child welfare institute who will only publish research that is beneficial to its federally funded revenue-maximization scheme due to the fact that most social work training in child welfare is funded through Title IV-B and E initiatives.

In this manner, the only authority to turn to becomes the only literary source of information. And that is how the imperialistic morality parade keeps marching along.

Propaganda at its finest.

Report Urges More Curbs on Medical Ghostwriting

Should more light be shed on the relationships between drug makers and certain prominent doctors who publish scientific articles about their medicines?

A new Congressional report calls on medical journals, medical schools and even the National Institutes of Health to take additional measures to ensure the integrity of the scientific articles many doctors rely on to make treatment decisions for their patients.

The report, issued Thursday by Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, focuses on medical ghostwriting.

Ghostwriting is the practice in which prominent researchers sign on as authors to articles for scientific journals that have been developed by third-party medical education companies at the behest of drug or medical device makers. Influential doctors listed as authors, the report said, have had varied input on articles drafted by industry-financed writers that have been published in medical journals.

“Manipulation of medical literature could lead physicians to prescribe drugs that are more costly or may even harm patients,” the report said.

Over the last few years, industry documents made public in government investigations and product liability lawsuits against drug makers have shown medical ghostwriting to be widespread.

In response, many medical journals have tightened their policies requiring authors to disclose industry funding and editorial assistance. Last year, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a drug industry trade group, revised its clinical research principles, adopting standards that ask authors to disclose industry contributions to research publications.

A number of drug makers have also changed their publication policies to acknowledge their supporting roles. Some leading medical schools, meanwhile, have added policies explicitly prohibiting faculty from signing on to ghostwritten articles.

But the senator’s report said a variety of scientific institutions, including the National Institutes of Health, should be more vigilant to ensure the integrity of the medical literature.

Even when articles in medical journals acknowledge industry-sponsored medical writers for “editorial assistance,” for example, the role of drug makers in such publications may remain unclear to readers, the report said. A drug maker may have initiated an article, chosen the medical writer, influenced the outline or draft before it is sent to an academic author for review, or vetted the final manuscript, before it is submitted to a medical journal, according to the report.

Senator Grassley recommended in a separate letter to Dr. Francis S. Collins, the director of the N.I.H., that applicants who apply for agency research grants should be required to disclose any industry support, whether financial or editorial, that they have received for articles.

A spokesman for the N.I.H. said the agency had received Mr. Grassley’s letter and would respond at a later date. It already is considering a new rule to increase disclosure of the financial sponsorship of researchers seeking grants.

Ghostwriting in Medical Literature