Who will write the speeches?
18/11/09 13:51
This
past week, the New York Times reported that
a number of speeches on healthcare
reform by lawmakers were ghostwritten by
lobbyists.
In particular, lobbyists for the biotech company
Genentech, a subsidiary of drug company Roche,
wrote speeches for different lawmakers that showed
up word-for-word the same, or had substantial
similarities, in the Congressional Record --
though the Genentech speeches for Republicans were
different from the ones for Democrats.
This should be no surprise. Ghostwriting for "key opinion leaders" is a modus operandi of drug companies. Although this has been brought to light many times by many people, Senator Charles Grassley's exposés this year have been notable.
It does, however, raise an interesting question for when, if ever, the U.S. government tries to regulate the pharmaceutical industry's manipulation of the medical literature: Who will write the speeches?
This should be no surprise. Ghostwriting for "key opinion leaders" is a modus operandi of drug companies. Although this has been brought to light many times by many people, Senator Charles Grassley's exposés this year have been notable.
It does, however, raise an interesting question for when, if ever, the U.S. government tries to regulate the pharmaceutical industry's manipulation of the medical literature: Who will write the speeches?
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