Ghostwriters paid by Wyeth Aided its Drugs

The NY Times and others have uncovered that Wyeth used ghostwriters to write a large number of journal articles trumpeting the merits of hormone replacement therapy. These articles were often published as review articles or editorials, formats that are designed to influence physician thinking on a subject.

Often, physicians would sign their names on to such documents, with minimal original contribution, presumably in exchange for pay or simply the "academic" output such a publication would provide.

These discoveries were made as a result of ongoing lawsuits against Wyeth for the deleterious effects of hormone replacement therapy on inappropriately selected female patients.

It's just a reminder to me about the importance of learning to read the medical literature critically and objectively.