GHOST-WRITTEN SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS AT CORE OF GLAXO CASE–HOW FREQUENT IS THIS?

The largest health care settlement in history reached with GlaxoSMithKline last month revealed that the company paid more than 20 academic researchers to attach their names to a ghost-written article that misrepresented the safety and efficacy of the depression drug Paxil for children. Glaxo paid the government over 3 Billion dollars to resolve the case. Yesterday in an article in THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION it was revealed that the academics who agreed to allow their names to be used have refused to retracted the article and still hold millions in federal grant moneys. The phenomina of ghost writing in which professional writers are hired by pharma companies to promote their drugs is not new. What we know is that it done. What is not known yet is how often. The Chronicle article quotes a few officials who are concerned that the GSK fraud case is just the tip of the iceberg. This phenomina is an area of whistleblower law that is expected to grow significantly.