Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy

[babylonsister]

Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy

By NATASHA SINGER
Published: August 4, 2009


Newly unveiled court documents show that ghostwriters paid by a pharmaceutical company played a major role in producing 26 scientific papers backing the use of hormone replacement therapy in women, suggesting that the level of hidden industry influence on medical literature is broader than previously known.

The articles, published in medical journals between 1998 and 2005, emphasized the benefits and de-emphasized the risks of taking hormones to protect against maladies like aging skin, heart disease and dementia. That supposed medical consensus benefited Wyeth, the pharmaceutical company that paid a medical communications firm to draft the papers, as sales of its hormone drugs, called Premarin and Prempro, soared to nearly $2 billion in 2001.

But the seeming consensus fell apart in 2002 when a huge federal study on hormone therapy was stopped after researchers found that menopausal women who took certain hormones had an increased risk of invasive breast cancer, heart disease and stroke. A later study found that hormones increased the risk of dementia in older patients.

The ghostwritten papers were typically review articles, in which an author weighs a large body of medical research and offers a bottom-line judgment about how to treat a particular ailment. The articles appeared in 18 medical journals, including The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and The International Journal of Cardiology.

The articles did not disclose Wyeth’s role in initiating and paying for the work. Elsevier, the publisher of some of the journals, said it was disturbed by the allegations of ghostwriting and would investigate.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/health/research/05ghost.html?pagewanted=1

[notadmblnd]

1. Just the opposite of what they touted.

I am a menopausal woman. I'm 50 and have been going through it for about two years. Other than the hot flashes, I'm enjoying being liberated from my reproductive life. I'm not suffering from depression, I've found that a good moisturizer aids with the drying skin. I don't have breast cancer, cervical cancer, heart disease nor high blood pressure that could lead to a stroke. I have put on some weight. However, I'm still a good looking woman who has more men chasing after her than she had in her youth. In short menopause has been the time of my life.

I just wonder, have I been doing something wrong?

[babylonsister]

2. Sounds like you're doing everything exactly right!

I get the power surges, but don't think my personality has been affected. Now, my husband, he's going through male menopause, I swear! But there's no pill to make him less of a pill, now is there.

[notadmblnd]

3. I remember when my husband was going through it.

Happened when he was about 40. I remember all the "I have nothing to show for my life" crap he used to spout. And the toys, some of the things he wanted, like a humvee or motorcycle, were totally ridiculous. he even wanted a swimming pool. I relented on the pool however, I told him it could only be 4 ft deep since he couldn't swimn. I had pulled him out of other people pools twice during our time together. The first time I didn't hesitate, the second time.... I thought about it for a minute. I was afraid it there was a third time, I just might have let him drown.

[babylonsister]

4. Hahaha!

The attitude is there-gettin' crankier than he used to be, and yes, the toys. 'New' car, had to get the other two painted to make the new one look better. Also has to buy lots of 'stuff' to go on said 'new' car. :crazy: