We’ve all heard alarming stories about the extent to which pharmaceutical companies have their hands in what appear to be objective studies on their products. So it comes as a great relief to many patients and physicians alike that there are medical journals to sniff out the real breakthroughs from the steaming piles of marketing hype. But can the peer-reviewed paragons of probity really escape the conflicts of interest that plague medical research in general? Bob takes a look at the story that’s not so evident in the pages of medical journals.
The hydrogen economy that President Bush has embraced is getting mixed reviews from both industry groups and environmentalists, making it very difficult for energy consumers to get the straight story. But it may be discrepancies between the science and the policy that are polluting the reporting. Brooke speaks to Dr. Daniel Kamman about energizing the coverage of the hydrogen debate.
A different kind of advertising ban campaign is rolling across Europe-this time, it's targeted at the tobacco industry. The specific terms of Britain's Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Bill have not been worked out yet, but it looks like tobacco advertising will be banned in Britain by the end of the year. Brooke speaks with Mark Kleinman of "Marketing Magazine" about how the ad ban is likely to play out.
Nowadays, it seems like you can buy just about anything on the Internet…books, CDs, clothes. But if you take a closer look at what you can pick up on the Internet, you’ll quickly find that the market has far superceded what most would expect. Bob interviews Dr. Nancy Scheper-Hughes about online organ purchases.
It’s easy to market drugs for common diseases, but what about drugs for diseases that no one has? That’s when drug companies drum up hidden epidemics to convince the public that we all need their little pills twice a day. So argues Brendan Koerner about the marketing strategy behind Paxil in this month’s Mother Jones. Brooke talks to Koerner about anxious advertising.
Claritin, Viagra, Lipitor, Celebrex, Prilosec, Xenical. In the last five years, drug commercials have become TV regulars and drug brands have become household names. Bob investigates the potential side effects of advertising prescription drugs.
In our ongoing series of media tidbits from OTM Producer-At-Large Mike Pesca, Mike and Brooke take on celebrities plugging prescription drugs on talk shows, and puppets testifying before Congress. If it sounds odd, that’s because it is.
Scientific data and governmental policy go hand in hand. Whether it's arsenic, global warming or nuclear weapons, most policies can hang their hats on at least some evidence. Now a little-known bill is requiring that the government ensures its data meet certain standards before being shared with the public. Brooke talks with Alan Morrison of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, and James Tozzi of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness.
