The best science that money can buy

David Bollier recounts the lack of trust of medical friends and acquaintances in medical journals which they believe have been compromised by the financial support of the large pharmaceutical companies; and draws on a Wall Street Journal article for support.

"Reporter Anna Wilde Mathews writes:

Many of the articles that appear in scientific journals under the bylines of prominent academics are actually written by ghostwriters in the pay of drug companies. These seemingly objective articles, which doctors around the world use to guide their care of patients, are often part of a marketing campaign by companies to promote a product or play up the condition it treats.

The article goes on to describe how ghostwriters are frequently hired to write articles that academics are invited to publish under their own names. It’s a sweet scam. Academics get to pad their publishing resumes. Medical journals get well-written articles by big-name scientists. And the drug companies get to exploit the credibility and independence of academic science for a relative pittance."