Ghost Writing
Medical ghost writing occurs when anonymous ghostwriters with scientific backgrounds are paid to produce reports for publication as if written by better-known experts. Healy estimates that up to 50 percent of literature on drugs is ghostwritten. In his thesis, he states that ghostwriters write on research given to them by drug companies, which want both positive results and positive research; therefore ghostwriting is biased from the beginning.
Healy encountered ghost writing involving Wyeth’s SNRI Effexor. Healy attended a meeting promoting Effexor, and was offered for his approval a draft article that had been written for him. He left it intact, but made two additions. One contradicted Wyeth’s claim that Effexor got patients fully well compared to patients on other SSRIs and another stated that SSRIs could make some individuals suicidal. The article had already been submitted to the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience before Healy saw it again; both of his additions had been removed. In response Healy removed his name from the article.
Read more about this topic: David Healy (psychiatrist)
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