More on the unholy alliance between Big Pharma, Big Government and
Big Medicine
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Will Hall
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Sep 26, 2006 07:41 PDT
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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: PPEN Extra: More on the unholy alliance between Big Pharma, Big
Government and Big Medicine (from PRWatch.org)
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2006 18:08:25 -0500
From: Gary Kohls <gko-@cpinternet.com>
To: Gary Kohls <gko-@cpinternet.com>
Big Pharma's Aggressive PR Campaign Attempting to Address the Industry's
Numerous "Reputation Challenges"
http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/0915phrma_qorvis.htm
The major industry lobby group Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) has retained Qorvis Communications
"for a national PR campaign to educate the public about the good work
done by drug companies and the important role they play in developing
new medicines," reports O'Dwyer's. The government of Saudi Arabia has
been Qorvis' main client. "Since being named CEO at PhRMA more than a
year ago, former Louisiana Representative Billy Tauzin and his
communications team, led by Ken Johnson, have been implementing an
aggressive public relations campaign in an attempt to address the
industry's numerous reputation challenges, from pricing to safety to
whether drugs are marketed over-aggressively," writes the Holmes Report.
SOURCE: O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), September 15, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5186
Canadian Government/Big Pharma's Unholy Alliance Suppressing Unwelcome
Truths About the Drug Industry
http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals/monday/
British Columbia's Deputy Minister of Health, Gordon Macatee,
ordered a lunchtime presentation on disease mongering cancelled
until a drug industry speaker could be added. University of Victoria
health researcher Alan Cassels was surprised that the ministry was
so sensitive about a discussion on the book he co-authored, Selling
Sickness: How the World's Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are
Turning Us All Into Patients. A ministry spokesperson, Marisa Adair,
said the change "was all in the interest of presenting a balanced
viewpoint." Cassels is unpersuaded: "I think my viewpoint is
evidence-based. If they have a problem with the evidence-based
viewpoint, what's the opposite? It's the marketing-based viewpoint!"
Monday Magazine journalist Andrew MacLeod reported that an earlier
presentation on obesity was given by a doctor who had received funding
from the soft drink lobby group Refreshments Canada. MacLeod wryly noted
that it was unclear "whether the ministry had anyone in representing the
salad industry to balance his views."
SOURCE: Monday Magazine (Canada), September 13, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5178
Journal of the American Medical Association Outrageously Fail to
Disclose Financial Ties of it's Authors to BigPharma
http://honestmedicine.typepad.com/medical_watch/2006/07/how_jama_public.html
Writing on her blog "Honest Medicine," Julia Schopick points out
that the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) used
video news releases (VNRs) to promote two studies that later proved
controversial, because the authors had neglected to disclose their
financial ties to pharmaceutical companies. One study concluded that
pregnant women risked relapsing into depression if they stopped taking
antidepressants. The January 2006 VNR on the study featured lead author
Dr. Lee Cohen, who is a "longtime consultant to three antidepressant
makers, a paid speaker for seven of them and has his research work
funded by four drug makers," reported the Wall Street Journal. The other
study found a link between severe migraines in women and cardiovascular
disease. The July 2006 VNR on that study featured lead author Dr.
Tobias Kurth, who "has received research funding from the makers of
Bayer aspirin, Tylenol and Advil, pain relievers sometimes used to treat
migraines," reported the Associated Press. "If JAMA continues to produce
and disseminate VNRs ... its staff must check the financial ties of
their authors prior to publication," concludes Schopick.
SOURCE: Honest Medicine blog, July 30, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5177
STANFORD BANS DRUG COMPANY FREEBIES
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-docs13sep13,0,6778894.story?coll=la-home-local
Under a tough new code of ethics all staff and students at Stanford
University's medical school, hospitals and clinics will not be able
to accept any gifts from drug company representatives. The new
policy comes into effect on October 1. "It's about time that this
happened," said Alan Cassels, coauthor with Ray Moynihan of "Selling
Sickness: How the World's Biggest Pharmaceutical Companies Are Turning
Us All Into Patients." Harvard Medical School professor Jerry Avorn told
the Los Angeles Times that "even if the object is of trivial monetary
value, it creates the notion of a friendship.
They wouldn't be investing in those things if there weren't a
payoff." Scott Lassman, a spokesperson for the drug industry's peak
lobbying body, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,
complained that restrictions on sales representatives' access to doctors
"would be a serious mistake."
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2006
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5172
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