Comments on: Why Some Docs No Longer Take Drug Money

By: Pharma News 4_18 « Impactiviti blog

Pharma News 4_18 « Impactiviti blog — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:22:18 +0000

[...] Some docs no longer taking industry money - With little fanfare, a small number of prominent academic scientists have decided to stop accepting payments from drug and device makers for speaking at meetings or for sitting on advisory boards. And while they maintain that it’s important for for knowledgeable scientists to help companies draw up and interpret studies, any work they do will be pro bono…more [...]

By: Grieving

Grieving — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:53:17 +0000

Nice try, docs. I lump you altogether. In my case, the bad guys are psychiatrists, as my son was killed with no warning by Eli Lilly’s Zyprexa. Perhaps you would like to donate to the memorial we are planning to erect within a year or so in Washington in memory of the hundreds of thousands killed by prescription drugs. It might help with your permanent guilt. And the blogs are not going away.

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:29:24 +0000

This is such a joke! Institutions like Harvard and Yale have been accepting bundles of money from the pharmaceutical companies for years. Research labs have been built, fellowships have been paid for, and many of thee guys have gotten rich by accepting “drug” money. Now they come out and say that they’re not going to take it any more. After they’ve already raked in the piles of dough. If these guys and others are so innocent, then I think that they come out and indicate how much money that they or their institutions have accepted over the past 10 years? The NYT ought to back to these guys, as well as other prominent opinion leaders and ask them how much they received. Or the government should investigate this incredible conflict of interest that has been going on for decades. For example, with multiple statins on the market, the drug companies have been lining up for years to grab their share of the opinion leaders, lock them in, and keep them busy so that they have little time to do anything else. Many of these guys have been on retainer. Again, this is an incredible joke! All of the sudden, the academics are seeking to distance themselves from the companies because they don’t want to be dragged into the fray, but like it or not they’re already in the mess. Unless they can prove that they haven’t accepted funds!

By: Insider

Insider — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:58:12 +0000

Singed by the Blogosphere!

I like it.

By: Justice in Michigan

Justice in Michigan — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:50:24 +0000

This is an interesting array of responses - some docs denying inappropriate influence (and resenting the suggestion); others noting the ease with which one can act as “part of the team,” almost without realizing it.

No doubt there is, indeed, a range, and different people will respond differently, probably having less to do with personal character than the particulars of the situation.

In general, policy makes it hard to sort things on this level. That’s why, for example, the McDonald’s coffee story (which is partly mythic) comes to stand for every lawsuit people don’t like; Vioxx (or Paxil) comes to stand for every drug people don’t like; etc. etc.