Our corrupt elites -- medical science division

[Hannah Bell]

By Kathy G.

Buried on page 7 of today's Wall Street Journal is a rather astonishing article that is a remarkably vivid illustration of how corrupt an institution the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has become.

The facts are these: as the article's author, David Armstrong, reports, "a study published last year on the use of antidepressants in stroke patients was authored by a University of Iowa psychiatrist who failed to disclose he had a financial relationship with the maker of the drug studied." This information came to light when a medical researcher, Dr. Jonathan Leo, published a letter in another medical journal which mentioned Dr. Robinson's conflict of interest and criticized the way the findings of his study were reported. Leo said he discovered the conflict of interest via a simple Google search.

What happened following the publication of Leo's letter is extraordinary.

For one thing, it caused JAMA to institute a sweeping and unprecedented new policy: from now on, says JAMA, anyone filing a complaint about a study author's conflict of interest must "remain silent about the allegation until the journal investigates the charge." And when they say silent, they mean silent --from now on, says JAMA, anyone making such a complaint will "be specifically informed that he/she should not reveal this information to third parties or the media while an investigation is under way."

But JAMA's attempts to silence and intimidate its critics don't stop there. Its editors appear to have launched a campaign of attacks and threats against Dr. Leo and the medical school where he teaches, Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee...

http://thegspot.typepad.com/blog/2009/03/our-corrupt-elites-medical-science-division.html

[ColbertWatcher]

1. ...

http://www.wikiality.com/Catherine_DeAngelis

[Hannah Bell]

4. Did you just put that up?

[ColbertWatcher]

10. Yes, of course and it's open for everyone else to add their stuff to! n/t

[Enthusiast]

2. What we are seeing here is

the Bushification of society from one end to the other.

[blindpig]

11. Rather

the commodification of everything. This is the goal of capitalism, to squeeze every nickle out of everything. Bush was just a ham-handed front man.

[ColbertWatcher]

13. Dumbass is a cheerleader. n/t

[Delphinus]

3. This is awful.

I used to regard JAMA highly - I wonder now how much they put out I can trust.

[Hissyspit]

5. Does the article say how JAMA expects you to know when the investigation is over?

[90-percent]

6. Another

Yet another institution built on trust that's failing in it's mission.

these elites don't seem to have an elite moral code, do they?

-90% Jimmy

[maryf]

7. K&R . nt

[Celebration]

8. this story has been covered fairly well

It hasn't been buried or anything. I think this happened a month or so ago. This is just a followup.

It is an amazing story though.

Did you read this?

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/04/15/study-author-in-jama-disclosure-flap-has-his-say/

So funny. The guy is right. If JAMA hadn't acted the way they did, nobody would have paid attention to this.

Oh the irony.

[dgibby]

9. So, I wonder--

Who funds JAMA, and what conflicts of interest do they have???

[truedelphi]

12. The foul waters of medical research are so tainted that

The Journals and publishing editors no longer even bother worrying about the ethos of the author.
Read more here:
www.coastalpost.com/02/07/05.htm

[earth mom]

14. Not surprised. The medical industry & pharma giants have fucked over the Autism community for years.

:puke: