READ THE NEWS ON ONE CLICK
The medical research world has been concerned about the problem of ghostwriting for more than a decade. The issue has been repeatedly raised in the mainstream media over the past few years, with most of the commentary focused on the ethics of academics serving as authors on papers they did not write and on some of the most egregious actions by pharmaceutical companies. But these efforts miss the ways in which Big Pharma has developed new forms of medical research to serve its own interests. Big Pharma firms spend twice as much on promotion as on research and development (R&D). But it is worse than that: more and more medical R&D is organized as promotional campaigns to make physicians aware of products. The bulk of the industry’s external funding for research now goes to contract research organizations to produce studies that feed into large numbers of articles submitted to medical journals. As long as pharmaceutical companies hold the purse strings of medical research, medical knowledge will serve to market drugs, not to promote health. And as long as universities grovel for more partnerships with these companies, the door will remain wide open to proceed with the corruption of scientific research. One Click Note: This is a MUST READ article of the month.
Dr Marc-André Gagnon & Dr Sergio Sismondo, EvidenceNetwork.ca, Troy Media
The answer may be ‘a lot,’ but that, of course, depends on your perspective. Is $182 per hour a lot? How about $625? There is a range, naturally, reflecting whether the physician who doubles as a so-called key opinion leader is a specialist or primary care physician. But for those wondering just how much drugmakers are willing to pay, here are some figures…
Ed Silverman, Pharmalot
In a case of vaccine-derived polio, an immunodeficient woman receiving regular intravenous immune globulin treatment became paralyzed and died 12 years after her child received the oral polio vaccine, investigators reported. To date, 23 cases of oral vaccine-related poliovirus infection among immunodeficient patients have been reported, but no treatment or public health plan is in place.
Nancy Walsh, Medpage Today
LAHORE, June 15: A 13-day old baby died reportedly after she was administered polio drops in Naseerabad on Wednesday. The incident took place in Naseerabad near Daroghawala when baby’s father Abdul Khalid and other relatives raised an alarm shortly after her death and complained about the matter to the health department for a thorough probe. Lahore Executive District Officer (Health) Dr Umer Farooq Baloch suspended the four-member team which administered polio drops to the baby. The health department, however, rejected the impression about the baby’s death due to polio vaccination, saying no such example exists anywhere in the world.
Staff Reporter, Dawn.com
A vaccine that prevents the most common cause of severe diarrhea and dehydration in babies was associated with a potentially life-threatening bowel disorder in a large study from Mexico and Brazil. Another rotavirus vaccine, Wyeth Lab’s RotaShield, was withdrawn from the market in the U.S. in 1999 less than a year after its introduction.
Salynn Boyles, WebMD
When we set out last week to write a relatively brief guide to being moved from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance (ESA), we knew that we would be highlighting big differences between the two medical tests. We also knew that we would be revealing a big drop in the number of opportunities to score points for physical health conditions – though we weren’t expecting it to be quite so huge. The truth, of course, is that both the PCA and the WCA are bogus pseudo-science created largely by organisations with vested interests in the outcome. They have nothing whatsoever to do with the reality of the effects of long-term health conditions or disabilities. We can’t change that truth, but we can at least do our best to ensure that if you are an IB claimant you have all the information needed to get every point you are entitled to under the WCA.
Steve Donnison, Benefits and Work
Related Links:
Steve Donnison, Benefits and Work
Screengrab
Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are claiming that the Government has erected CCTV cameras to spy on the house where he is staying in East Anglia. In a video, titled “House Arrest”, and released by WikiLeaks, they claim that three cameras have been erected to watch who enters and leaves his temporary home. The video marks his six months on bail. It shows one of the cameras outside the entrance to Ellingham Hall, Norfolk. Mr Assange has lived there for six months while he fights extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual crimes, which he denies. The five minute film is presented as a truncated video diary of Mr Assange’s six months living in Norfolk. It shows him being fitted with an electronic tag around his ankle by staff at Serco, and one of the several boxes in the house which monitor where he is. At one stage, the WikiLeaks team film staff from Serco who have come to the house to check the boxes which monitor Mr A ssange’s tag. They ask Mr Assange to stop the filming. He replies: “Why not? What is your company afraid of? Why would your company be afraid of the general public?”
Christopher Hope, Daily Telegraph
Related Links:
YouTube
WikiLeaks, Daily Telegraph
Information Release
A group of MPs is pushing for fresh talks on the Digital Economy Act and its plans to cut off internet users after so-called 'three strikes'. In an early day motion filed today it was revealed that in a report presented to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, Frank de la Rue, the special rapporteur on free expression, said that he was 'alarmed' by the plans. "[De La Rue] notes that he is 'alarmed' by the Digital Economy Act 2010 and other three strikes disconnection laws and that he considers them to be a violation of freedom of expression," reads the early day motion. This, along with some other warnings that have been eye-searingly obvious from the start, and have been repeated in front of ministers time after time, has kicked some life into the old House, and now we could get a chance to see the DEA thrown into the dustbin of stupidity for good, at last.
Dave Neal, The Inquirer
READ THE NEWS ON ONE CLICK
http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk
Posts
