'Operation Sisyphus' blogpost by Aubrey Blumsohn

[Guest guest]

Operation Sisyphus

blogpost by Dr Aubrey Blumsohn

11/09/2006

Sisyphus is a hero of Greek mythology (1), condemned to roll a large

rock up a hill. Upon reaching the top the rock rolls back, and the

task has to be repeated - endlessly. The story appears to be one of

eternal and pointless labor.

One reader suggests that raising issues of pharmaceutical research

misconduct is a pointless Sisyphean task (2) - that this whole field

of science is already kaput. It sometimes feels that way (3,4). But

the story of Sisyphus is not one of unending misery. Despite the

best efforts of the gods, they cannot beat him (1).

Fellow medical bloggers are writing about the way in which the

pharmaceutical industry is preventing proper understanding of the

science upon which our patients rely (5,6,7,8,9). They write about

the way in which the industry uses power and gobbledegook to avoid

proper discussion of it's misdeeds. They write about patients who

have died. They write about the way in which industry has subverted

those organizations whose task it is to act for our patients to

preserve integrity.

But we are attacking the wrong beast.

The beast is not the industry - it is ourselves.

Pharmaceutical companies sell products under the banner of science.

But their raison d'être is to make money. Industry has to balance

genuine hypothesis testing and transparency against commercial

interests and the financial consequences of dishonesty. This is not

in itself a criticism - it is a simple fact.

We, as doctors, have created the atmosphere which has allowed lethal

system malfunction. We have allowed industry to subvert the rules of

science and the free-market. We have watched quietly as governments

and academics have colluded with industry to hide information

critical to our patients. We have remained silent as our medical

schools churn out graduates who have no knowledge of the dilemmas

and scandals of medicine. We have allowed our medical journals to

become corrupted and timid. We have remained silent as our General

Medical Councils have taken action against brave doctors for raising

questions of integrity (10). We have said nothing while these old-

boys' clubs have selectively ignored serious concerns brought to

their attention (10) - apparently based on the status and race of

those criticised (10,11). We have failed to support our colleagues

who have raised concerns. We have said nothing.

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To read the full post with references -

http://scientific-misconduct.blogspot.com/