PR WWATCH

Observer: DRUG INDUSTRY SPINS MEDICAL JOURNALS THROUGH GHOSTWRITERS

"Hundreds of articles in medical journals claiming to be written by
academics or doctors have been penned by ghostwriters in the pay of
drug companies," the Observer reports. "The journals, bibles of the
profession, have huge influence on which drugs doctors prescribe
and the treatment hospitals provide. But The Observer has uncovered
evidence that many articles written by so-called independent
academics may have been penned by writers working for agencies
which receive huge sums from drug companies to plug their products.
Estimates suggest that almost half of all articles published in
journals are by ghostwriters. While doctors who have put their
names to the papers can be paid handsomely for 'lending' their
reputations, the ghostwriters remain hidden. They, and the
involvement of the pharmaceutical firms, are rarely revealed."
SOURCE: Observer (UK), December 7, 2003