“It’s rampant,” said Jim Szaller, a Cleveland lawyer who uncovered the evidence of ghostwriting in his work representing 8,400 women who are suing the drug company Wyeth for misrepresenting the benefits of hormone drugs. “This particular practice has to be stopped. It can’t continue, because patients are going to suffer.”
Paul Hebert, editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, agrees. He estimates that he rejects between five to 10 pieces per year after discovering they have been secretly ghostwritten and paid for by pharmaceutical companies.
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“Just three days ago, I got a request to be the author of a ghostwritten article about the effectiveness of a cholesterol-lowering drug,” Dr. James H. Stein, professor of cardiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, said this month. “This happens all the time.” He declined to attach his name to the paper.
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Alison Bass visits the ghosts of Paxils past.