October 5, 2009 – 1:53 pm
As regular readers may have guessed, Croakey takes a keen interest in conflict of interest issues, as indicated by the Crikey Register of Influence and our regular coverage of related stories.
Of course, it’s not only Croakey who follows such matters – conflict of interest has been one of the big and important ongoing stories of [...]
September 30, 2009 – 7:22 pm
With today’s launch of what may prove to be the biggest vaccination program in Australia’s history, debate about the merits of swine flu vaccination continues.
In Crikey today, a leading US consumer advocate as well as an international expert on influenza vaccines from the Cochrane Collaboration raise several questions for Australian health authorities, while former [...]
September 22, 2009 – 3:14 pm
The organisers of a forum on pharmaceutical regulation, to be held in Adelaide on Thursday, are promising a “robust discussion”. I hope there are plans for a podcast as I’m sure there will be plenty of interest in the debate.
Healthy Skepticism is hosting the panel discussion, at the Women and Children’s Hospital, to examine questions [...]
September 9, 2009 – 3:30 pm
The Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mark Butler, issued this release yesterday, clearly intending to allay concerns raised by the Sydney Morning Herald’s stories sounding the alarm about the marketing and use of medical devices.
Instead, he seems to have added fuel to the fire – at least, according to Dr Ken Harvey, who argues that the [...]
August 26, 2009 – 3:55 pm
“Patients will suffer if the Government does this.” It’s a time-honoured line that the powerful players in the health and medical industry are quick to trot out when their interests are threatened. Sometimes they’re right – that patients’ or the broader community’s interests are at stake. But often the real agenda is much more about [...]
Health reform efforts in the US are not only attempting to improve access, efficiency and quality of care. They are also seeking to inject greater transparency into the relationships between industry and health care providers, reports Dr Lesley Russell from Washington. It seems that sunshine may be the best disinfectant, she says. She writes:
The 1000 [...]
Professor Garry Jennings, Director of the Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute, has responded to recent Croakey posts raising concerns about his organisation’s close ties with industry. It seems there will be no more Baker staff appearing in pharmaceutical advertorials. He writes:
“The Croakey posting on Conflict of Interest points to both the diversity of views [...]
Following the recent post about the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute’s latest foray into pharmaceutical marketing, Croakey asked both the Baker and the NHMRC for comment.
No word yet from the Baker, but Professor Warwick Anderson, ceo of the NHMRC, sent this comment:
“The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (issued jointly by NHMRC, [...]
Conflicts of interest are not only a hot issue for health professionals, researchers and their organisations. Health and medical writers and publishers are also often entangled with industry (and I’d be the first to acknowledge that conflicts are a particularly fraught issue for freelancers like myself who receive commissions from a variety of sources).
On the [...]
The Crikey Register of Influence – which details links between opinion leaders, organisations and industry marketing campaigns – has been updated.
The new entries are Professor Simon Stewart, Head, Preventive Cardiology at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, and his colleague, Dr Melinda Carrington, General Manager of the Baker’s Disease Management and Preventative Programs.
They appeared [...]
