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Ghostwriting Alleged in Paxil Studies
Friday, August 21st, 2009Attorneys for Paxil plaintiffs have discovered that Paxil articles Glaxo had written for medical journals ere prepared using a sophisticated ghostwriting program that allowed doctors to take credit for the work. The program was known as CASPPER.
Evidence of the ghostwriting effort included a company memo from April 2000 which stated the CASPPER program was designed to “strengthen the product positioning and overcome competitive issues.” The memo instructs Glaxo salespeople to approach physicians and offer to help them write and publish articles about their positive experiences prescribing Paxil, the Associated Press said. According to the memo, CASPPER could help physicians with everything from “developing a topic,” to “submitting the manuscript for publication.”
Ghostwriting involves the act of a drug company producing a journal article aimed at either counteracting criticism of a drug or embellishing its benefits. Usually, a drug maker hires a professional writing company to draft the article, and recruits a physician to sign off as the author. Once the article has been published, drug sales reps often present copies of the piece to physicians as evidence that the drug covered in the article is safe and effective. Critics of the pharmaceutical industry claim ghostwriting is a common practice.
