Several days ago, I posted a link to AllTrials [the red folder upper left] with gret enthusiasm. I’m still enthusiastic, but as always, there’s a glitch. Cam posted a warning to look at Sense-About-Science on SourceWatch. where he found some problematic funding [Association of the British Pharmaceutial Industry, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer]. Then Annonymous went to the Sense-About-Science web site funding page and said, "Can see a further breakdown of Sense about Science funding here: [http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/funding.html]. That breakdown does not dampen my enthusiasm for the message or the messengers…" Those formerly mentioned donors aren’t there, and the funding looks reassuring – showing this graph:
The problem is, I want AllTrials to succeed. The coming of Dr. Ben Goldacre [Bad Pharma], the BMJ Editor Fiona Godlee [God Save the Queen!…, in praise of Fiona Godlee…], and the others has been a welcome infusion of the just right medicine in the arm of meaningful reform of Clinical Trials and their reporting. But do I want them to succeed so much that I’d be willing to overlook a bit of Pharma funding here and there? I hate to be prissy about this, but I think the answer should be "no." This whole Pharma invasion of academic psychiatry and specifically Clinical Trials was insidious and it happened in my psychiatric lifetime. It just slid in from the sidelines, and all of a sudden, it was the whole game. So I’m reassured by Annonymous’s finding, but I’ve written the sponsors of AllTrials for their clarification and policy on industry funding. I don’t think that it’s either too picky or too paranoid to ask, not when you consider the climate we’ve lived in for such a long time…
It’s reasonable to ask for their policy in industry funding. Look forward to their response. As an FYI I hadn’t found the funding link myself. I had contacted Dr. Goldacre about the question of funding that had been raised here and he had written back with this reply:
“i approached them, and they’ve been fantastic, theyre running a hugely successful and growing campaign, completely onside, very critical of pharma and major medical institutions, on a vitally important issue that nobody has been willing to organise on, for years.
i’m not going to get tearful over whatever tiny fragment of £15,000 in this pie chart came from pharma. if anyone wants to introduce spoilers on that basis then i’d seriously question their judgement and motives.
http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/funding.html“
Annon,
Thanks. I sure don’t want to be a spoiler. It’s a great campaign. I had my say in this post…
Totally reasonable. I figured since you were contacting AllTrials I would contact Dr. Goldacre.
I’m prissy. No pharmaceutical company should be accepted as sponsor of a campaign aiming to end the kinds of fraud they have perpetrated for years and years, to the detriment of the health of countless individuals and families and local communities and state coffers.
Pfizer, GSK, Eli Lilly, J&J, AstraZeneca… Allmost all the big companies have done their level best/worst to make money first and last, for top brass and share holders, at the expense of patients and their families, and also the reputation of the psychiatric profession and modern medicine.
Why do pharma companies sponsor NAMI? Why do Big Pharma outsource clinical trials to external business firms and why is there a rush of clinical trials taking place in remote villages in India and in Africa?
Big Pharma is not in need of any campaign. If trial transparancy is what the industry want, they can agree among themselves to come clean and publish all raw data and every single trial. What they do need is positive publicity, less distrust and contact to keep track of the campaign.
Big Pharma is neither honest, naive, nor prissy, as documented by dr Marcia Angell, dr Loren Mosher, professor Jerome Kassirer and a line of America’s public prosecutors. Big Pharma is on the take. Government regulation and criminal prosecution of CEOs is what we, the people need.