Ghost Authors Common in Medical Research Papers: Study

Drug companies initiating clinical trials often use ghost authors and medical writers whose contributions are not credited in the research papers, Danish scientists said on Tuesday.
This practice could be reduced by greater transparency and stricter rules that insist everyone who has worked on or contributed to a medical trial is named.
"Ghost authorship is common but it is often kept secret because it is in the interest of both the industry and the academic authors who lend their names to papers they have had very little or, in some cases, nothing to do with," Peter Gotzsche, of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark, said in an interview.
The names of authors and researchers are omitted from the published research papers because this may serve the commercial interests of the company sponsoring the trial.
"We have seen again and again that the conclusions in trial reports and other types of articles are given a spin by industry so that the conclusions are too positive compared to the data presented," Gotzsche said.
"It is very important for the industry to get messages out that are useful for their marketing departments," he added.
Lending their name to a study can be beneficial for researchers because it raises their profile and the number of published studies they are linked to. Gotzsche and a team of international researchers believe that unless the role of all the authors is set out in the research paper, people reading the study will not be able accurately to judge or trust its conclusions.
The scientists analysed 44 trials approved by Danish ethics committees in 1994-1995 in the first systematic examination of ghost authorship. One of the studies had been initiated by a local company and 43 by one of 26 multinational drug companies.
The researchers identified 33 trials with ghost authors. In 31 of them the ghost writer was a statistician -- the person who analysed the trial data.
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Gary Moller comments:
These sorts of appalling practices help to explain why "research" that shows favourable results for commercial products always seem to be far more numerous than those reports that are less than favourable. Coupled with massive publicity machines behind them these reports of questionable repute then receive incredible publicity in the media - propaganda dressed up as news!

Menawhile, the free or cheap, self-help methods for keeping healthy, or regaining health are largely ignored. For example, if a drug was discovered that was shown to reduce cancer risk by as much as 50% it would be a news sensation. The discoverers would not only become incredibly wealthy, they would also be Nobel Prize winners. Or would they?

Well there is a drug that has been discovered that does just that - sunlight. Sadly, because sun is free it receives little in the way of recognition for its cancer preventing qualities. In fact, we are taught by the establishment to fear the sun. Some might think there is some kind of conspiracy going on here. Or is it just a case of willful neglect aided and abetted by powerful commercial interests?

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Diabetes drug increases the most serious complication of diabetes

Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline Plc's widely used drug for treating type 2 diabetes, raises the risk of heart death by 64 per cent and the risk of heart attack by 43 per cent, US researchers have said.

The news about Avandia, a US$3 billion ($4.1 billion) a year drug also known as rosiglitazone, triggered a free fall in GSK's shares, which closed off more than 5 per cent on the London Stock Exchange. The slide continued on the New York Stock Exchange, with shares closing down nearly 8 per cent.

Glaxo said it strongly disagreed with the conclusions of the report, based on an analysis of other studies.

"Unfortunately, rosiglitazone appears to increase, rather than decrease, the most serious complication of diabetes, heart disease," Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a statement.

"The whole reason you want to treat diabetes is to prevent the complications of diabetes," Nissen added in a telephone interview.<
Go here for the full story

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Gary Moller comments:

Is this a joke? Sadly, it is not. Let me expalin why these dangerous drugs keep rolling out into the market place and keep being promoted and prescribed by doctors despite known health risks. The answer is simple: It is very, very good business. Take this diabetes drug for example.

This drug brings in over $4 billion a year with, say a profit of $1 billion. Let's say they get sued for a billion. That's a lot of money. But is it really? Not really.

First they know that they can sell the drug for 4-5 years before any real concerns are collated and red flaged. Then they delay, delay, delay and obfuscate like crazy, hiring the best lawyers on the planet. They know from past expereince that many of the suers will die, others will get too sick and tired to continue and even more simply run out of money to pursue the case. After 5 years, the first cases are being heard with judgements being made. If they do this really well and get lucky, as has been the case with the Agent Orange scandal of the Vietnam War, they will manage to drag this process out over decades.

Sure, it might be a billion dollars; but they have been able to pocket at least $10 billion in profits in the meantime, all the while developing their next wonder drug to foist on the ever swelling ranks of passive "sick" consumers and to replace the drug that has run its course in the market place.

This also explains why natural therapies for conditions like diabetes get little more than lip service. There's no money to be made from helping people stay healthy.

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Therapeutic Goods Authority looms large - stop it now!

The Therapeutic Goods Authority (TGA) which the Government has committed to setting up without proper consultation with the public is well on the way to being established. Staff have already been hired making a farce of any consultation.

How will this regulatory organisation benefit the NZ public? We deserve to know.

The TGA will regulate natural therapies, natural medicines and nutritional supplements as if they were hazardous prescription pharmaceuticals. It is doing so on the basis of safety - premise that nobody has been able to substantiate (There is not a single recorded death in recent NZ history from taking a natural medicine or supplement).

If the TGA goes ahead, as would appear inevitable, your ability to decide what is best for your health will be severely diminished and the cost will rise.

Maori traditional healing will be seriously compromised and the development of herbs and medicines based on native NZ plants will probably not be possible without the financial muscle of Big Pharma.

Submissions are being called for; but you have only a few weeks to get one in. A Maori Hui is being organised to opposed the TGA. Details below and please get involved, if only by writing to your MP.

Here are the PDF files for these:

• Hui Invite
• Impact of TGA on Maori
• Hui Expression of Interest
• Maori Party Letter and Speech

Please act now and retain our freedom to manage our own health. Throw out the TGA!

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Codex Guidelines and the Therapeutic Goods Authority are not good for your health

One day, possibly in 2009, you will wake up to find that high potency vitamins, minerals and nutrient-dense supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin will be illegal.

This is no joke; the legislation before the NZ Parliament to set up the Trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods Authority is part of a global movement to restrict your access to these safe products.

Your only choice for prevention and treatment of many ailments will be poisonous pharmaceuticals that will bleed our economies dry.

For a good overview of the issues, have a listen to this video (about 14 minutes long):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5266884912495233634&q=Nutricide

Why regulate and restrict products that are safe? Here in NZ there have been no deaths in the last decade or so from taking nutritional supplements, other than a child who tragically choked to death on a vitmain pill.

More information here

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