POGO Letter to NIH on Ghostwriting Academics

[Guest guest]

http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/letters/public-health/ph-iis-20101129.html

" ...based on documents in our possession, we have discovered that the NIH gave

$66.8 million in grants over the last five years to a handful of researchers who

used ghostwriters for scientific publications. These documents were made public

during litigation[3] about Paxil (paroxetine), an anti-depressant sold by

GlaxoKline (GSK). Although these documents discuss actions that happened in

the past, this behavior doesn't usually come to light until years after it

occurred when the evidence is discovered during litigation, and therefore the

practice is likely continuing today.

According to the documents, GSK began to push sales of Paxil in the early 1990s

with an extensive ghostwriting program run by the marketing firm Scientific

Therapeutics Information (STI). For instance, STI wrote a proposal to organize

GlaxoKline's Paxil Advisory Board Meeting in 1993 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel

in Palm Beach, Florida. STI chose Dr. Nemeroff of Emory University as

their speaker to lay out the meeting's agenda and objectives. Dr. Nemeroff

apparently led discussions on how to " evaluate clinical research/promotional

programs " and " generate information for use in promotion/education. " (Attachment

A)...

[Guest guest]

http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/letters/public-health/ph-iis-20101129.html

" ...based on documents in our possession, we have discovered that the NIH gave

$66.8 million in grants over the last five years to a handful of researchers who

used ghostwriters for scientific publications. These documents were made public

during litigation[3] about Paxil (paroxetine), an anti-depressant sold by

GlaxoKline (GSK). Although these documents discuss actions that happened in

the past, this behavior doesn't usually come to light until years after it

occurred when the evidence is discovered during litigation, and therefore the

practice is likely continuing today.

According to the documents, GSK began to push sales of Paxil in the early 1990s

with an extensive ghostwriting program run by the marketing firm Scientific

Therapeutics Information (STI). For instance, STI wrote a proposal to organize

GlaxoKline's Paxil Advisory Board Meeting in 1993 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel

in Palm Beach, Florida. STI chose Dr. Nemeroff of Emory University as

their speaker to lay out the meeting's agenda and objectives. Dr. Nemeroff

apparently led discussions on how to " evaluate clinical research/promotional

programs " and " generate information for use in promotion/education. " (Attachment

A)...

[Guest guest]

http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/letters/public-health/ph-iis-20101129.html

" ...based on documents in our possession, we have discovered that the NIH gave

$66.8 million in grants over the last five years to a handful of researchers who

used ghostwriters for scientific publications. These documents were made public

during litigation[3] about Paxil (paroxetine), an anti-depressant sold by

GlaxoKline (GSK). Although these documents discuss actions that happened in

the past, this behavior doesn't usually come to light until years after it

occurred when the evidence is discovered during litigation, and therefore the

practice is likely continuing today.

According to the documents, GSK began to push sales of Paxil in the early 1990s

with an extensive ghostwriting program run by the marketing firm Scientific

Therapeutics Information (STI). For instance, STI wrote a proposal to organize

GlaxoKline's Paxil Advisory Board Meeting in 1993 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel

in Palm Beach, Florida. STI chose Dr. Nemeroff of Emory University as

their speaker to lay out the meeting's agenda and objectives. Dr. Nemeroff

apparently led discussions on how to " evaluate clinical research/promotional

programs " and " generate information for use in promotion/education. " (Attachment

A)...

[Guest guest]

http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/letters/public-health/ph-iis-20101129.html

" ...based on documents in our possession, we have discovered that the NIH gave

$66.8 million in grants over the last five years to a handful of researchers who

used ghostwriters for scientific publications. These documents were made public

during litigation[3] about Paxil (paroxetine), an anti-depressant sold by

GlaxoKline (GSK). Although these documents discuss actions that happened in

the past, this behavior doesn't usually come to light until years after it

occurred when the evidence is discovered during litigation, and therefore the

practice is likely continuing today.

According to the documents, GSK began to push sales of Paxil in the early 1990s

with an extensive ghostwriting program run by the marketing firm Scientific

Therapeutics Information (STI). For instance, STI wrote a proposal to organize

GlaxoKline's Paxil Advisory Board Meeting in 1993 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel

in Palm Beach, Florida. STI chose Dr. Nemeroff of Emory University as

their speaker to lay out the meeting's agenda and objectives. Dr. Nemeroff

apparently led discussions on how to " evaluate clinical research/promotional

programs " and " generate information for use in promotion/education. " (Attachment

A)...