No doubt this story will be all over the mainstream media tomorrow as another example of “tainted” industry-sponsored research.
Now this is a terrible case of ethics abuse – but trying to pin the rap on industry (in this case, Pfizer, Merck, and Wyeth) is quite a stretch.
But that won't stop politicians from trying. After all, nothing like a little Pharma-bashing to get the electorate all hot and bothered. Case in point, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal who commented that, “When the public and professionals rely on statements from purported experts with financial interests ... the public trust and credibility are at stake.”
Except that it wasn’t the funding that was the problem – it was the absence of ethics by a rogue anesthesiologist.
It’s also important to note that the majority of scientific fraud comes from non-industry sponsored research conducted by academic institutions -- a result of the “publish or perish” survival of the fittest paradigm.
Here’s the full story.
Take this Reuben off the menu.
Now this is a terrible case of ethics abuse – but trying to pin the rap on industry (in this case, Pfizer, Merck, and Wyeth) is quite a stretch.
But that won't stop politicians from trying. After all, nothing like a little Pharma-bashing to get the electorate all hot and bothered. Case in point, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal who commented that, “When the public and professionals rely on statements from purported experts with financial interests ... the public trust and credibility are at stake.”
Except that it wasn’t the funding that was the problem – it was the absence of ethics by a rogue anesthesiologist.
It’s also important to note that the majority of scientific fraud comes from non-industry sponsored research conducted by academic institutions -- a result of the “publish or perish” survival of the fittest paradigm.
Here’s the full story.
Take this Reuben off the menu.
