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Influence

Money talks. In the hands of the pharmaceutical industry's PR machine, money shouts, lectures, cajoles and earnestly trumpets what it proclaims to be the truth. Independent voices are sorely needed.

Health authorities: hamstrung by their dependency on pharmaceutical companies?

Health authorities sometimes seem incapable of exerting their will, so dependent are they upon pharmaceutical companies.

React against pharmaceutical companies’control over access to clinical trial data

As the Vioxx° (rofecoxib) scandal demonstrated, it is essential that the experts who carry out and supervise clinical trials, and who analyse and present their results, be independent of pharmaceutical companies. That is the very least we can do to protect patients.

Evaluate the benefits of preventive measures

All too often, through a series of miscalculations, prevention becomes a "commercial" activity, in which we lose sight of the goal of preventive care. Those who want to improve healthcare need to keep a clear head and their feet on the ground, and carefully evaluate the benefits of preventive measures.

Standing up to salt industry lobbies

Healthcare professionals and researchers alike can successfully fight misinformation and special interests, provided they base their arguments on solid scientific evidence and network with like-minded individuals.

Shaping diseases: marketing departments flex their wings

Commercial strategies are being designed to modify the social perception of diseases and to create as close a link as possible between a pharmaceutical brand name and a health condition. Healthcare professionals must keep a critical mind and refuse to allow commercial interests to decide who is and who isn’t sick.

Continuing medical education: avoiding bias

Training for health professionals must come from independent sources. The financial stakes being so vast, and yet so often hidden, health professionals must demand that providers of continuing education be free of any interests other than those of patients.