MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'ghost'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:12:11 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028071&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fguest-blog-health-care-in-dangerous.html Health Care Renewal presents another guest blog by Steve Lucas, a retired businessman who formerly worked in real estate and construction who has a long standing interest in business ethics, and has long observed the health care scene.Health Care Renewal has often covered the disconnect between the stated goals of companies and the realities of their day to day operations. This raised the following question: Has medicine moved from being dysfunctional to being dangerous?There is certainly no lack of material to support this question as in the last two weeks we can find examples of pharma/biotech/device companies all engaged in questionable behavior. Medtronic and Manipulation of Study DataIn the print media, The Wall Street Journal, a pro-business newspaper regularly highlights storie... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028071 Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:02:00 +0100 5028071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4829211&cid=t_162934_136_f&fid=35302&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwhitepebble.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fno_canticle.mp3 Free and legal daily download from Largehearted Boy Filed under: music Tagged: Ghost Heart, Largehearted Boy, MP3 (Source: white pebble) white pebble blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4829211 Tue, 17 May 2011 12:17:22 +0100 4829211 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4399617&cid=t_162934_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F01%2F26%2Fmotherhood-and-depression-an-interview-with-tracy-thompson%2F Today’s interview is with Tracy Thompson, the author of “The Beast: A Journey Through Depression” and “The Ghost in the House: Motherhood, Raising Children, and Struggling with Depression.” She has won numerous mental health awards, including one from NAMI for her “lasting contributions to mental health issues.” Question: The first two sentences of your book are brilliant: “Motherhood and depression are two countries with a long common border. The terrain is chilly and inhospitable, and when mothers speak of it at all, it is usually in guarded terms, or in euphemisms.” You’re obviously on my team of those moms fighting against the stigma of mental illness. But even I shy away at times — like when someone will joke about ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4399617 Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:49:36 +0100 4399617 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4322476&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Fkey-opinion-leader-services-companies.html In researching the conflicts of interest of the University of California "36," I stumbled upon a fascinating corner of the pharmaceutical/ biotechnology/ medical device marketing universe, the companies that find and manage key opinion leaders (KOLs), also known as "thought leaders."  Reviewing their own marketing materials reveals how KOLs truly are health care corporate marketing's useful idiots.I found three companies which seem entirely devoted to the adoption, care and feeding of KOLs, plus numerous companies, including some medical education and communication companies (MECCs) that provide KOL-related products and services.  I will first describe the companies briefly, then draw upon their marketing materials to underline what KOLs are really about.Leadership in Medicine In... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4322476 Fri, 07 Jan 2011 18:02:00 +0100 4322476 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4219699&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fblogscan-this-book-is-haunted.html We have posted quite a bit about ghost-written articles, that is, ostensibly scholarly articles appearing in medical and health care journals with apparently prominent authors that were really written mainly by medical writers hired by companies to market particular products, usually drugs.  Now we hear of a case of a ghost-written book.  Our fellow bloggers have covered this well.  See posts here and here by Professor Margaret Soltan in University Diaries, and here on Inside Higher Ed; here by Dr Daniel Carlat on the Carlat Psychiatry Blog; here by Dr Howard Brody on the Hooked: Ethics, Medicine and Pharma blog; and here by Alison Bass on the Alison Bass blog.  Ghost writing is often an important component of stealth marketing schemes, and serves not only to decep... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4219699 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:50:00 +0100 4219699 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4001681&cid=t_162934_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F09%2F25%2Foff-topic-book-review-a-city-of-ghosts-by-betsy-phillips%2F A City of Ghosts is a self-published book of completely original ghost stories set in Nashville, TN. It has been released just in time for Halloween by author Betsy Phillips, who explored the options for publishing her stories and made the bold decision to go forth on her own. I know, self-published, right? I think many of us have preconceived notions about what self-publishing is and who does it and the quality of self-published material. Betsy has proven us all wrong. I know I am enjoying a book when I catch myself forcing others to listen to me read snippets of it aloud. I have already repeatedly subjected the spouse to readings of snippets, and predict that I will be reading bits of A City of Ghosts to innocent bystanders until Halloween and beyond. The organization of the book into ... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4001681 Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:46:25 +0100 4001681 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3935791&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34935&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicine.com.my%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D8788 The Hungry Ghosts Month is a time which according to Chinese belief, the “gates of hell” are open and the ghosts are free to roam. It is also a time where those who believe this try to avoid hospitals and elective surgery, I suppose lest some evil spirit adversely affects the health of the individual. Putting off elective surgery is understandable but what if one insists on timing delivery to avoid the Hungry Ghost month? This Star Report tells of a woman who gave birth to her pre-term baby by Caesarean section in a superstitious bid by her parents-in-law to avoid the Hungry Ghost Month. A gynaecologist and obstetrician told the paper that the mother had insisted in delivering her baby a few days short of 37 weeks, before the infant was ready to be delivered. This was because h... Malaysian Medical Resources blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3935791 Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3935791 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3266874&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F02%2Fmerck-settles-another-vioxx-case.html All the shenanigans that went on in the course of Merck's marketing of the now withdrawn Cox-2 inhibitor non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx have provided grist for the Health Care Renewal mill since 2005.  For example, see these posts:- here about ghost-writing of a Vioxx research publication; - here, and here about allegations that Merck executives tried to intimidate Vioxx critics; - here about how advocates of an extreme laissez faire approach to regulation of health care corporations used illogical arguments about the Vioxx case; - here about how an apparently major clinical trial of Vioxx turned out to be a "seeding trial," that is, a study really meant to recruit supposed physician-researchers as prescribers; and - here about how one once promine... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3266874 Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:18:00 +0100 3266874 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096808&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F12%2Fbritish-medical-journal-interviews-dr.html About a year after we started Health Care Renewal, in late 2005, we wrote multiple posts about the complex and unfortunate case of Dr Aubrey Blumsohn's attempts to keep a research project honest.  Our most recent summary of the case was here.  The case involved suppression and manipulation of research, ghost-writing, institutional conflicts of interest, and attempts to silence a whistle blower. It provides lessons about the downsides of letting commercial firms sponsor and hence control human research designed to evaluate the products or services they sell; and of academic medicine becoming dependent on research money from such firms for such research.The case was just re-capped in some detail on the occaision of an interview of Dr Blumsohn published in the British Medical J... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096808 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:54:00 +0100 3096808 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044707&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fhow-industry-views-research-it-sponsors.html We have posted frequently about threats to the integrity of the clinical evidence-based, and to the practice of evidence-based medicine.  In particular, we have discussed how research may be manipulated in favor of vested interests, or suppressed when the results do not favor such interests.Last week, the British Medical Journal electronically published a set of guidelines for how industry sponsored clinical research ought to be published, sponsored by the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals.  The authors came from pharmaceutical companies (Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Cephalon), medical device companies (LifeScan), and medical publishing and medical education and communication companies (John Wiley... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044707 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:33:00 +0100 3044707 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2832110&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F09%2Freappearance-of-ghost-of-seasons-past.html About a year after we started Health Care Renewal, in late 2005, we wrote multiple posts about the complex and unfortunate case of Dr Aubrey Blumsohn's attempts to keep a research project honest. The early posts were here, here, here, and here. In this post, we summarized the case thus:Dr Aubrey Blumsohn, a senior lecturer at Sheffield University, and Professor Richard Eastell performed a research project on the effects of the drug risedronate (Actonel, made by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals [P&G]) under a contract between P&G and the University.Although the research contract designated Blumsohn and Eastell as "Investigators" under whose direction the project would be carried out, Blumsohn was not given access to the original data collected by the project.Despite numerous req... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2832110 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:01:00 +0100 2832110 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2814378&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fwyeth-ghostwriting-dr-joseph-camardo.html Ghostwriting is a topic covered extensively at Healthcare Renewal, including at my post "Wyeth: Ghostwritten Papers Fake, But Accurate" here, Roy Poses' "Wyeth's Industrial Scale Ghost-Writing" here, and many others about Wyeth and other pharmas that can be viewed via this link: http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/search/label/ghost writing.A story in the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday about Wyeth and ghostwriting brought to mind my medical school days at Boston University, in a metaphorical and rather negative way, regarding an oddity reflecting today's pharma industry.In those years I lived next to Boston City Hospital on the top floor of a 29-story high rise at 35 Northampton Street, at that time one of the toughest and highest crime neighborhoods in the region if not the country (I was care... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2814378 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:32:00 +0100 2814378 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2752044&cid=t_162934_125_f&fid=34820&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dentalblogs.com%2Farchives%2Fadministrator%2Fwhy-blogs-work-for-busy-dentists%2F This topic has two distinct areas of interest. One, why is subscribing to a dental blog, like www.dentalblogs.com, and keeping up with dental news on Facebook a good idea? And two, why should a busy dentist write a blog? Because you are busy, we’ll make this brief. 5 Reasons to Subscribe to Online Dental News Media It’s easy. You don’t have to search for news, it comes to you from across the globe, each morning, in one location. It’s really easy. You don’t have to subscribe to or haul around magazines any longer. All the industry news you need is online. It’s fast. Internet news is generated at amazing speed, so you get the latest information by the time you wake up in the morning. With print publications, you must wait until the articles are printed and mailed. By the time... dental blog for dentists about dentistry blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2752044 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:02:44 +0100 2752044 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2724837&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fanother-haunting-tale.html The objectives of CASSPER, from a publication standpoint, are to strengthen the product positioning and overcome competitive issues." The document clearly was written by marketers, and directed to pharmaceutical representatives ("drug reps.") It did not mention any involvement by GSK scientific or medical personnel. The closest it came to making a pretense about any scientific or clinical usefulness of the project was, "publication of such articles will benefit the sales force by expanding the database of published data to support PAXIL."- It was as much about promoting closer relationships among pharmaceutical representatives ("drug reps") and doctors as about publishing articles. The project was to be implemented by drug reps, and "your participation will establish and/or strengthen your... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2724837 Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:30:00 +0100 2724837 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2688650&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fsixth-international-congress-on-peer.html I just found out that the program of this year's Sixth International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication, to be held on September 10-12, 2009, in Vancouver, BC, Canada is likely to be of great interest to Health Care Renewal readers. The conference is held every four years on topics relevant to medical journal editors and reviewers, but previous conferences emphasized topics as impact factors, blinded review, open publishing, etc. This year, however, there will sessions on:Authorship and Contributorship - including 3 of 4 presentations on ghost-writingData Sharing and Conflicts of Interest - including 4 of 5 presentations on conflicts of interest in researchPublication Bias - including 3 of 3 presentations which appear to discuss research manipulation and suppression Rhetori... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2688650 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:22:00 +0100 2688650 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2674254&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fguest-blog-on-need-to-get-ethical.html This article was accompanied by an editorial by me any my Co-Editor and a position statement by the World Association of Medical Editors decrying such practices.I am a practicing general internist who prescribes drugs regularly that help my patients. I want and need new drugs to be developed, and I believe that users of those drugs should pay for the necessary research and development through both drug pricing and funding of NIH. I am also a patient and similarly want there to be effective drugs to prolong my life and healthy living. But they should be described in an evidence-based manner, and the evidence must be unbiased. The drugs should be priced so the drug company recoups its costs and makes a profit. I have no problems with any of that. But when they try to enhance their profits th... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2674254 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:11:00 +0100 2674254 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2674255&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fwyeths-industrial-scale-ghost-writing.html MedInformaticsMD noted the impending release of documents about how Wyeth engineered ghost-writing of articles about hormone replacement therapy (HRT) here. Now the NY Times has had a chance to review the documents, with fascinating results.The scope of the ghost-writing campaign was on an impressively industrial scale: 26 articles published over 7 years in 18 medical journals.The details were ably covered by at least three other blogs. Dr Adriane Fugh-Berman, guest- (not ghost-) blogging on PharmaGossip discussed how the documents reached the public domain. Dr Daniel Carlat on the Carlat Psychiatry Blog, Prof Margaret Soltan on the University Diaries offered some choice comments -By Dr CarlatAs with baseball players on steroids, when companies pour marketing money into ghostwriting campai... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2674255 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:40:00 +0100 2674255 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2667562&cid=t_162934_125_f&fid=34820&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dentalblogs.com%2Farchives%2Fadministrator%2Feverything-a-dentist-should-know-about-blogging%2F Have you thought about blogging? This week’s Tips post by TNT Dental tells you how and why to blog, as well as who should blog. TNT, a leader in dental website design, hosting, and search engine optimization, offers free one-on-one blog training over the phone for client dentists who want to improve their websites and marketing strategy with a dentist’s blog. Read the full article here: http://tips.tntdental.com. (Source: dental blog for dentists about dentistry) dental blog for dentists about dentistry blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2667562 Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:48:29 +0100 2667562 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2657771&cid=t_162934_125_f&fid=34820&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dentalblogs.com%2Farchives%2Fadministrator%2Fa-golden-opportunity-for-dentists-more-than-two-thirds-of-internet-users-search-for-medical-info-online%2F Today, a Web Exclusive article, “When patients know more than you,” posted on www.DentalProductsReport.com. In it, Senior Editor Noah Levine tells us that a survey by Pew Internet Project reported 75-80% of Internet users look for medical information online. Question is, does the vast medical and dental information on the Internet educate and inform patients well? Does it make your job as a dentist easier or harder? That really depends on where patients are getting their information and whether it’s accurate and relevant. Wikipedia, for instance, is a great resource, but you don’t have to be an expert to post information. (Wiki means “what I know is.”) Blogs, too, give the average Joe access to opinions and not-necessarily-factual information. Levine’s article is a great star... dental blog for dentists about dentistry blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2657771 Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:32:36 +0100 2657771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2653700&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fwyeth-ghostwritten-papers-fake-but.html It looks like Wyeth has lost its battle to keep secret its practices regarding ghostwriting of scientific papers. The issue in question is whether ghostwriting contributed to excessive prescription of post-menopausal hormones and increased the incidence of breast cancer:Posted on Sun, Jul. 26, 2009Philadelphia InquirerWyeth told to release documents on ghostwritingAssociated PressLITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A federal judge has ordered the unsealing of thousands of pages of documents pertaining to the ghostwriting practices of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which is being sued over hormone-replacement drugs.U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson ordered the papers unsealed Friday at the request of a medical journal and the New York Times. Plaintiffs' attorneys presented the papers earlier at trial to show that W... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2653700 Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:42:00 +0100 2653700 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473250&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F06%2Fhandbook-for-ghost-writing.html We posted a number of times about questionable practices Eli Lilly used to market its atypical anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa (olanzapine). A post from 2007, with links backward, is here, and our most recent post is here. The company remains entangled in litigation over its marketing of this drug. That litigation has lead to the release of numerous internal documents that provide quite a view of Lilly's marketing practices. In particular, a Bloomberg news article discussed how the company used ghost-writers:Ensuring that medical journal articles presented Zyprexa study results in a positive light was one way for Lilly to reach its sales goal, company officials said in its plan, according to the documents.To do that, Lilly officials hired ghostwriters to prepare submissions to journals such as... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473250 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:44:00 +0100 2473250 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2056787&cid=t_162934_88_f&fid=38203&url=http%3A%2F%2Fprecordialthump.medbrains.net%2F2008%2F12%2F22%2Fa-picture-worth-a-thousand-words-iii%2F Map 1. Published by C.F. Cheffins, Lith, Southhampton Buildings, London, England, 1854 in Snow, John. On the Mode of Communication of Cholera, 2nd Ed, John Churchill, New Burlington Street, London, England, 1855. John Snow, one of the first anaesthetists (he even chloroformed Queen Victoria!) investigated the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak in Soho, London. By mapping the cases of cholera he was able to link transmission of the illness to contaminated water consumed from the Broad Street pump. This hammered a nail in the coffin of the “miasma” theory of cholera transmission, and heralded the birth of the new science of epidemiology. As John Snow himself said: On proceeding to the spot, I found that nearly all the deaths had taken place within a short distance of the [Broad S... AEQUANIMITAS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2056787 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:01:55 +0100 2056787 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2039914&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Fhaunting-of-hormone-replacement-therapy.html US Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is digging into what appears to be another ghost-writing case. As reported by the New York Times,Wyeth, the pharmaceutical company, paid ghostwriters to produce medical journal articles favorable to its hormone replacement therapy Prempro, according to Congressional letters seeking more information about the company’s involvement in medical ghostwriting.Mr. Grassley’s staff on the Senate Finance Committee released dozens of pages of internal corporate documents gathered from lawsuits showing the central, previously undisclosed role of Wyeth and DesignWrite in creating articles promoting hormone therapy for menopausal women as far back as 1997.The documents show company executives came up with ideas for medical journal articles, titled them, drafted ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2039914 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:39:00 +0100 2039914 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2011080&cid=t_162934_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F12%2F03%2Fgrief-brings-out-hallucinations-illusions%2F Grief is experienced by each and every one of us in a different way, and no two people go through the loss of a loved one alike. One possible grief reaction rarely described, researched or discussed is seeing illusions or hallucinations of the loved one. Scientific American brings us the story: Mourning seems to be a time when hallucinations are particularly common, to the point where feeling the presence of the deceased is the norm rather than the exception. One study, by the researcher Agneta Grimby at the University of Goteborg, found that over 80 percent of elderly people experience hallucinations [and illusions] associated with their dead partner one month after bereavement, as if their perception had yet to catch up with the knowledge of their beloved’s passing. As the study&#8... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2011080 Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:29:15 +0100 2011080 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1733832&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fno-denying-haunting-of-medical.html There was a remarkable series of letters in the latest JAMA(1). They, in turn, were responses to an article by Ross et al about ghost and guest authorship of articles about rofecoxib [Vioxx, by Merck](2). (See our post about that article here.)Two of the letters were notable because they came from the lead authors of articles that Ross et al described as ghost-written.First was a letter by Hawkey, which said in part,From my own publications, I was surprised to see references 79, 94, 96 and 108 as having been in a Merck publication status report since these were reviews independently invited by Lancet, Balliere, Gastroenterology Clinics of North America, and Gut respectively, and involved no contact with Merck beyond usual request for all relevant sources for information. Second was a lett... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1733832 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:08:00 +0100 1733832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1717124&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Farticle-in-annals-of-internal-medicine.html This article appears to be the first to provide evidence that pharmaceutical companies may deliberately disguise marketing efforts as clinical research. This is a real achievement, since obviously the companies involved make every effort to hide what they are doing, and it only through discovery during litigation did the facts come out.The authors conclude thatAt least 3 elements of seeding trials are harmful to science and society. First, full informed consent is not possible without disclosing the full purpose of the trial. Physicians and patients participating in ADVANTAGE were informed of the scientific objectives of the study, but the research protocol and informed consent templates indicate that they were not told about the key role of Merck's marketing division in the trial or the t... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1717124 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:12:00 +0100 1717124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1696201&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34935&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedicine.com.my%2Fwp%2F%3Fp%3D4015 It’s the Ghost month, the 7th month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The time when ghosts from the spirit world wander around earth. The Ghost Festival will be celebrated on 15th August this year. Supposedly the “gates of hell” are open and people are very afraid of hospitals this time of the year. You won’t find believers going for elective surgery this month and in fact will avoid hospitals as far as possible. We blogged about the The Hungry Ghost Effect where perhaps we see more critically ill cases during this period and this could be in turn be due to people not wanting to go to hospital until they are really really ill. I am told by surgical and orthopod colleagues that there are “more accidents” this time of the year. Now I am not aware of any concr... Malaysian Medical Resources blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1696201 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1696201 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1404054&cid=t_162934_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F04%2F28%2Fmedical-giveaways-to-be-banned-in-medical-schools%2F The spigot of free gifts, travel and other give aways to doctors, professors and students in the nation’s 129 medical schools is about to be closed. Gosh, I don’t know how they’ll manage… The New York Times brings us the story today: Drug and medical device companies should be banned from offering free food, gifts, travel and ghost-writing services to doctors, staff members and students in all 129 of the nation’s medical colleges, an influential college association has concluded. The proposed ban is the result of a two-year effort by the group, the Association of American Medical Colleges, to create a model policy governing interactions between the schools and industry. While schools can ignore the association’s advice, most follow its recommendation... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1404054 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:39:56 +0100 1404054 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1379372&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fdebasement-of-science-by-academia.html From Bloomberg in "Merck Masked Vioxx Risk, Hired Study Ghostwriters":Jim Fitzpatrick, an attorney with Hughes, Hubbard and Reed who helped represent Merck in its Vioxx litigation, said all authors on Merck studies had input on them. It is part of the scientific process to list authors with varying degrees of involvement, he said in a telephone interview. ``Merck's expectation is if a scientist is an author on a paper, then he or she agrees with the paper, has had the opportunity to comment and make revisions,'' Fitzpatrick said. ``I think it does give the paper more credibility if there is a respected outside author that has reviewed and edited the content of the paper.'' If those are Merck's "expectations" for authorship, then Merck science seems seriously troubled, indeed.This seems typ... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1379372 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:13:00 +0100 1379372 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1376680&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fghosts-come-home-to-roost.html This article should be required reading not just for anyone interested in ghost writing, but for anyone concerned about what has gone wrong with health care. The main points of the paper were: Merck used a systematic strategy to facilitate the publication of guest authored and ghost written medical literature. Articles related to rofecoxib were frequently authored by Merck employees but attributed first authorship to external, academically affiliated investigators who did not always disclose financial support from Merck, although financial support of the study was nearly always provided. Similarly, review articles related to rofecoxib were frequently prepared by unacknowledged authors employed by medical publishing companies and attributed authorship to investigators who often did not disc... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1376680 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:56:00 +0100 1376680 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1282262&cid=t_162934_136_f&fid=35300&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.metastaticlivercancer.org%2F2008-03-06-cancer-treatment%2Fdeath-of-actor-patrick-swayze%2F Patrick Swayze, 55, who starred in Ghost with Demi Moore and Dirty Dancing has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer as reported initially by the National Enquirer and New York Post. Now his doctor has confirmed this as well. Ghost Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore Patrick Swayze dirty dancing with Jennifer Grey Death sentence rumours We all have to die sooner or later, it’s just the way it is brought to you that makes a hell of a difference… According to Dr George Fisher, Patrick Swayze has “a very limited amount of the disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far”. George appeared to be responding to rumours that the actor was seriously ill and has only weeks to live. Patrick Swayze pancreatic cancer Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late... Metastatic liver cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1282262 Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:39:20 +0100 1282262 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1131056&cid=t_162934_133_f&fid=35096&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAutismVox%2F%7E3%2F211576296%2F The title of this post is an English translation of a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Dauer im Wechsel……….yes, I do realize that it is sometime on Saturday, or sometime on the first weekend of 2008 for you, and so not the best moment to start talking about German Romanticism. But yes, the photo is a photo of an actual object in our actual apartment: It’s Charlie’s “photo bucket” that he keeps his (just as you guessed) photos in. This bucket was found by me some years ago on a shelf with bags of Halloween candy no one wants (those tiny Charms lollipops) at Target. It was high time for Charlie and me to make a hasty exit. I had realized that I had forgotten to get him a plastic pumpkin for trick or treating and we were not going back to the par... Autism Vox blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1131056 Sat, 05 Jan 2008 11:28:33 +0100 1131056 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1043980&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F11%2Fblogscan-another-case-of-attempted.html A little late for Halloween is this post on the WSJ Health Blog describing a vivid anecdote of an unsuccesful attempt by a medical education and communication company (MECC) to generate a ghost-written abstract for a medical scientific meeting. (Our most recent post on ghost-writing and related pheonomena was here, summarizing an article by Moffatt and Elliott that characterized ghost-writing as harmful to people and undermining science.) (Source: Health Care Renewal) Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1043980 Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:57:00 +0100 1043980 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=991943&cid=t_162934_151_f&fid=36047&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FADozenSteps%2F%7E3%2F177452825%2F My friend Rich sent me this one so blame him… lol Bed Sheets!!! An extremely modest man was in the hospital for a series of tests, the last of which had left his bodily systems extremely upset. Upon making several false alarm trips to the bathroom, he decided the latest episode was another and stayed put. He suddenly filled his bed with diarrhea and was embarrassed beyond his ability to remain rational. In a complete loss of composure he jumped out of bed, gathered up the bed sheets, and threw them out the hospital window. A drunk was walking by the hospital when the sheets landed on him. He started yelling, cursing, and swinging his arms violently trying to get the unknown things off, and ended up with the soiled sheets in a tangled pile at his feet. As the drunk stood there, unste... A Dozen Steps blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=991943 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:09:35 +0100 991943 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=906027&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fhaunted-health-care-scope-of-ghost.html An important new article in PLoS Medicine expanded thinking about the involvement of pharmaceutical companies (and possibly other health care corporations) in the shaping of clinical research. [Sismondo S. Ghost management: how much of the medical literature is shaped behind the scenes by industry? PLoS Med 4(9): e286 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040286]Sismondo defined ghost management of medical research and publishing:when pharmaceutical companies and their agents control or shape multiple steps in the research, analysis, writing, and publication of articles. Such articles are 'ghostly' because signs of their actual production are largely invisible—academic authors whose names appear at the tops of ghost-managed articles give corporate research a veneer of independence and credibility. T... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=906027 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:08:00 +0100 906027 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=840501&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fblogscan-to-get-cme-credit-read.html On the Carlat Psychiatry Blog, this post detailed the disdain for which a noted psychiatrist expressed for a ghost-written, medical education and communication company organized, pharmaceutical company sponsored CME publication which ostensibly was derived from a panel discussion in which that psychiatrist participated. His most pithy comments I will not print in this family-oriented blog ;-) Yet physicians can still get CME credit in part for reading what he called a “ridiculous text… parts of it were inaccurate, simplistic, and [contained] over-generalizations.” (Source: Health Care Renewal) Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=840501 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 20:41:00 +0100 840501 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=564170&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fhaunted-medical-literature-moffatt-and.html We posted quite a bit back in 2005 about ghost-writing (see post here with links backward).Back then it became evident that a particularly pernicious type of ghost-writing was much more prevalent than anyone seemed to realize.This sort of ghost-writing has several important elements.Commissioned by Those With Vested Interests - The writing is commissioned by an organization with a vested, usually commercial interest, e.g., a pharmaceutical company. Directed to Support Vested Interests - The ghost-writer, perhaps a free-lancing medical writer or employee of a medical communication company, writes an article meant to support that organization's interest, often by setting the stage for the organization's new products. For example, a pharmaceutical company about to market a new drug may commis... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=564170 Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:31:00 +0100 564170 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=508092&cid=t_162934_87_f&fid=34765&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhcrenewal.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fsome-days-you-cant-win-lawyers-in-fen.html In "Pharma Goes to the Laundry," Carl Elliott described Wyeth's marketing campaign for fenfluramine, the fen in the diet drug combination fen-phen. It included a stealth marketing effort, including strategically placed ghost-written articles on behalf of obesity as a public health problem. When reports of heart valve damage afflicting patients on fen-phen began to come out, the company allegedly tried to conceal the evidence it had supporting a causative role for the drug combination. [Elliot C. Pharma goes to the laundry. Hasting Center Report 2004: 34: 18-23, link here.] (See our post here.)A few days ago, the New York Times reported how patients who developed valvular heart disease after taking fen-phen allegedly were then ripped off by their own lawyers.W. L. Carter knew there was some... Health Care Renewal blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=508092 Wed, 28 Mar 2007 21:20:00 +0100 508092 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=487003&cid=t_162934_133_f&fid=35082&url=http%3A%2F%2F29marbles.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F10%2Fevery-soul-is-perfect-is-there-autism.html Last December, I ended a post with the following question: If there is indeed a heaven, and our autistic children go there when they die, will they still be autistic? The answer, according to the writers of the CBS show Ghost Whisperer is an unambiguous "NO." In case you're not familiar with the show, it is about a woman - Melinda - who helps the troubled spirits of those who die "cross over" into the light. Last Friday's show (13 October) was about an autistic man who died but was not ready to leave. About half way through the episode, Melinda and her husband - Jim - realize that the man is autistic and that that is why they are having a hard time communicating with him and trying to figure out why he won't cross over. Here's the conversation they had (paraphrased to the best of my recoll... 29 Marbles blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=487003 Wed, 18 Oct 2006 22:19:00 +0100 487003