scholarly journals Ghost-Managed Medicine

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Sismondo
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Advocacy Organizations ◽  
Research Education ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Drug Companies ◽  
Research Organizations ◽  
Political Economies ◽  
The Many

Ghost-Managed Medicine by Sergio Sismondo explores a spectral side of medical knowledge, based in pharmaceutical industry tactics and practices. Hidden from the public view, the many invisible hands of the pharmaceutical industry and its agents channel streams of drug information and knowledge from contract research organizations (that extract data from experimental bodies) to publication planners (who produce ghostwritten medical journal articles) to key opinion leaders (who are sent out to educate physicians about drugs) to patient advocacy organizations (who ventriloquize views on diseases, treatments and regulations), and onward. The goal of this ‘assemblage marketing’ is to establish conditions that make specific diagnoses, prescriptions and purchases as obvious and frequent as possible. While staying in the shadows, companies create powerful markets in which increasing numbers of people become sick and the drugs largely sell themselves. Most agents for drug companies aim to tell the truth, but the truths they tell are drawn from streams of knowledge that have been fed, channeled and maintained by the companies at every possible opportunity. Especially because those companies have concentrated influence and narrow interests, consumers and others should be concerned about how epistemic power is distributed – or ‘political economies of knowledge’ – and not just about truth and falsity of medical knowledge. In pharmaceutical companies’ ideal worlds, medical research, education and marketing would be tightly fused. Doctors trying to educate themselves would turn to companies’ agents, such as researchers and educators sponsored to spread particular messages, local sales reps hired to change doctors’ behaviour, or journalists supplied with news stories. Ghost-Managed Medicine shows that the real world of medicine is not very far from the worlds that the companies want to create. Big Pharma’s many invisible hands are busy throughout medicine, and medicine changes as a result.

AIDS Drugs & the Pharmaceutical Industry: A Need For Reform

1991 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-410
Author(s):  
Mary T. Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Drug Approval ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
Price Regulation ◽  
Drug Industry ◽  
Drug Companies ◽  
Aids Drugs

AbstractThe pharmaceutical industry has long enjoyed substantial profits despite increased requirements for drug approval and various attempts to regulate the industry. Drug companies have avoided effective regulation by blaming high prices on the costs of research and development. The search for drugs effective in combatting HIV and AIDS related illnesses has provided a stark background on which to view the actions and justifications of drug companies. Despite increased cooperation between government and the drug industry and expedited approval of several useful drugs, these drugs are still prohibitively expensive. This Article explores the history and economics of the drug industry and proposes a system of national price regulation for all drugs.

Governmental Censorship in War-Time

1942 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 837-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byron Price
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Free Enterprise ◽  
Individual Liberty ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Radio Industry ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Right ◽  
Free People ◽  
Magazine Articles

To a free people, the very word “censorship” always has been distasteful. In its theory, it runs counter to all democratic principles; in practice, it can never be made popular, can never please anyone.Everything the censor does is contrary to all that we have been taught to believe is right and proper. The Post Office Department, for example, has two proud mottoes: “The mail must go through,” and “The privacy of the mail must be protected at all hazards.” But censorship stops the mail, it invades the privacy of the mail, it disposes of the mail as may seem best. The same thing holds true in the publishing business. Censorship limits the lively competition and free enterprise of reporters. It relegates many a scoop to the waste basket. It wields a blue pencil—both theoretical and actual—on news stories, magazine articles, advertisements, and photographs. Censorship also enters the radio industry, where it may edit scripts and in some cases stop entire programs.Yet even the most vociferous critics of the principle of censorship agree that in war-time some form and amount of censorship is a necessity. It then becomes not merely a curtailment of individual liberty, but a matter of national security. It is one of the many restrictions that must be imposed on people fighting for the right to throw off those restrictions when peace returns.

Corporate Colonization of Health Activism? Irish Health Advocacy Organizations' Modes of Engagement with Pharmaceutical Corporations

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orla O'Donovan
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Advocacy Organizations ◽  
Health Advocacy ◽  
Health Activism ◽  
Industry Sponsorship ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Modes Of Interaction ◽  
Modes Of Engagement ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Corporate Colonization

This article is based on a study that aimed to shed light on the “cultures of action” of Irish health advocacy organizations, and particularly their modes of engagement with pharmaceutical corporations. Debates about what some interpret as the “corporate colonization” of health activism provide the backdrop for the analysis. The empirical dimension of the study involved a survey of 112 organizations and in-depth study of a small number of organizations that manifest diverse modes of engagement with the pharmaceutical industry. The varying modes of interaction are plotted along a continuum and characterized as corporatist, cautious cooperation, and confrontational. Evidence is presented of a strong and growing cultural tendency in Irish health advocacy organizations to frame pharmaceutical corporations as allies in their quests for better health. The analysis of four constitutive dimensions of organizations' cultures of action can reveal the legitimating logics underlying their diverging positions around pharmaceutical industry sponsorship. While the research shows that pharmaceutical corporations have largely succeeded in defining themselves as a philanthropic force and rightful players in Irish health activism, it cautions against a simplistic conclusion that this is evidence of corporate colonization.

Knowledge-Based System for Estimating Incident Clearance Duration for Maryland I-95

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (14) ◽  
pp. 61-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minsu Won ◽  
Hyeonmi Kim ◽  
Gang-Len Chang
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Incident Response ◽  
Knowledge Based System ◽  
Confidence Levels ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Incident Duration ◽  
Response Team ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Incident Reports ◽  
The Many

For incident response operations to be appreciated by the general public, it is essential that responsible highway agencies are capable of providing the estimated clearance duration of a detected incident at a level sufficiently reliable for motorists to make proper decisions such as selecting a detour route. Depending on the estimated clearance duration, the incident response center can then implement proper strategies to interact with motorists, ranging from providing incident information only to executing mandatory detouring operations. This study presents a knowledge-based system, based on detailed incident reports collected by the Maryland-CHART (Coordinated Highway Action Response Team) program between years 2012 and 2016, for such needs. The proposed system features the use of interval-based estimates derived from knowledge of historical data, with different confidence levels for each estimated incident clearance duration, and its rule-based structure for convenient updates with new data and available expertise from field operators. As some key variables associated with incident duration often only become available as the clearance operations progress, the developed system with its sequential nature allows users to dynamically revise the estimated duration when additional data have been reported. The preliminary evaluation results have shown the promise of the developed system which, with its invaluable historical information, can circumvent the many data quality and availability issues which have long plagued the applicability of some state-of-the-art models on this subject.

Pharmaceutical Promotion in the Third World

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Lexchin
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Third World ◽  
Marketing Practice ◽  
Professional Groups ◽  
The Third ◽  
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers ◽  
Drug Companies ◽  
Pharmaceutical Promotion ◽  
The Third World

The pharmaceutical industry is motivated by profit and it is the quest for ever larger sales and profits that determines how the industry promotes its products. The author analyzes the methods that drug companies use in marketing their drugs to doctors and consumers, and the consequences in terms of costs and health. Some of the drugs advertised are valuable; others are irrational mixtures, useless or dangerous and should not be on the market. Even for products of proven worth, the companies have a double standard when it comes to promoting them in the Third World. The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations does have a Code of Marketing Practice, but major weaknesses in the code render it almost impotent in regulating promotion. When consumers and health care professionals question the tactics of the industry, the response is usually to attack the credibility of the critics rather than to deal with the issues that they raise. Physicians and consumers are strongly influenced by pharmaceutical promotion, with all too predictable results: Doctors prescribe irrationally and consumers develop grossly distorted ideas about the value of modern medications. Reforms to promotional practices are possible, but may be beyond the resources of Third World countries. Achieving these reforms will require the efforts of Third World countries, progressive elements in the pharmaceutical industry, consumer and professional groups and some form of organized international support.

Thank you to our contributors

1991 ◽  
Vol 29 (26) ◽  
pp. 104.1-104
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Consensus View ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Many ◽  
Do So

Articles in the Bulletin have been unsigned since it began. This is because they aim to present a consensus view which incorporates contributions from many people, including specialists, general practitioners and members of the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the Bulletin’s Advisory Council. We are very grateful to them all, but although we have often been asked who they are, we cannot name the many hundreds who have helped us in any one year. However, we can at least name those not listed in our tailpiece who have taken a major share in the production of articles published in the last year, and do so now.

Recommended Policies for Uses of Human Tissue in Research, Education, and Quality Control

1999 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 296-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Grizzle ◽  
Wayne W. Grody ◽  
Walter W. Noll ◽  
Mark E. Sobel ◽  
Sanford A. Stass ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
Human Tissue ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Direct Patient Care ◽  
Research Education ◽  
The Public ◽  
Medical Specialists ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Knowledge Interests

Abstract As recipients of tissue and medical specimens, pathologists and other medical specialists regard themselves as stewards of patient tissues and consider it their duty to protect the best interests of both the individual patient and the public. The stewardship of slides, blocks, and other materials includes providing, under appropriate circumstances, patient materials for research, education, and quality control. The decision to provide human tissue for such purposes should be based on the specific (ie, direct patient care) and general (ie, furthering medical knowledge) interests of the patient and of society. The same standards of responsibility should apply to all medical professionals who receive and use specimens. This document proposes specific recommendations whereby both interests can be fostered safely, ethically, and reasonably.

scholarly journals A hidden web of policy influence: The pharmaceutical industry’s engagement with UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Groups

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0252551
Author(s):  
Emily Rickard ◽  
Piotr Ozieranski
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Total Drug ◽  
Conflicts Of Interests ◽  
Policy Influence ◽  
Patient Organisations ◽  
Drug Companies ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Industry Needs

Our objective was to examine conflicts of interest between the UK’s health-focused All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) and the pharmaceutical industry between 2012 and 2018. APPGs are informal cross-party groups revolving around a particular topic run by and for Members of the UK’s Houses of Commons and Lords. They facilitate engagement between parliamentarians and external organisations, disseminate knowledge, and generate debate through meetings, publications, and events. We identified APPGs focusing on physical or mental health, wellbeing, health care, or treatment and extracted details of their payments from external donors disclosed on the Register for All-Party Parliamentary Groups. We identified all donors which were pharmaceutical companies and pharmaceutical industry-funded patient organisations. We established that sixteen of 146 (11%) health-related APPGs had conflicts of interest indicated by reporting payments from thirty-five pharmaceutical companies worth £1,211,345.81 (16.6% of the £7,283,414.90 received by all health-related APPGs). Two APPGs (Health and Cancer) received more than half of the total value provided by drug companies. Fifty APPGs also had received payments from patient organisations with conflicts of interest, indicated by reporting 304 payments worth £986,054.94 from 57 (of 84) patient organisations which had received £27,883,556.3 from pharmaceutical companies across the same period. In total, drug companies and drug industry-funded patient organisations provided a combined total of £2,197,400.75 (30.2% of all funding received by health-related APPGs) and 468 (of 1,177–39.7%) payments to 58 (of 146–39.7%) health-related APPGs, with the APPG for Cancer receiving the most funding. In conclusion, we found evidence of conflicts of interests through APPGs receiving substantial income from pharmaceutical companies. Policy influence exerted by the pharmaceutical industry needs to be examined holistically, with an emphasis on relationships between actors potentially playing part in its lobbying campaigns. We also suggest ways of improving transparency of payment reporting by APPGs and pharmaceutical companies.

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