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Webwatch
May 2004
A while ago I wrote about the amount of trust you can give to information gleaned from the web. The situation has not changed, you should consider who publishes the information and what they stand to gain if they convince you to go along with their ideas. The recent controversy about the MMR vaccine is sufficient evidence that governments, drug companies, health professionals and patients all view the world differently. The government has the difficult task of reducing or eliminating the bad effects of disease on the population at the same time as managing a limited health budget but their concern with the population is sometimes at the expense of individuals. Drug companies try to maximise profits but realise that sustainable profits will only be made from drugs that work. Health professionals want the best result for their patients coupled with an academic interest in the processes that lead to that beneficial result. Associations of health professionals have yet another agenda, they wish to promote the profession and to present the best knowledge and practice to their members and the world. Patients just want to get better.
The drug companies have a difficult task, they must invest a huge amount in research and testing but this must be re-paid by consistent sales. It must be tempting for some to bend the truth a little, to put a spin on the results of a particular drug's efficacy. As recent UK governments have shown, spinning is not always telling lies, it is placing stronger emphasis on one aspect than another. Is a cup half full or half empty? Drug company cups are often more than half full, some political activist groups have cups that are quite empty.
An ineffectual substance sold as being a wonder drug will be found out as being useless. The only chance a drug company has in the long term is to research and supply reliable drugs. There are many drugs that are effective and have been sold for a long time. The problem lies with the newer drugs, do they work, are they too expensive, what are their side effects?
It is interesting to see the opinion of different groups, especially on subjects not just related to ITP and from people in different cultures. I simply searched for drug company bias using Google and came up with the links below. As usual, the media what to blow things up to sell their papers etc, the medical associations what to distance themselves from the profit motive but feel pulled towards the drug companies. Universities want the academic truth but their research is often funded by drug companies.
The patients associations just want the truth.
British Medical Journal
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/326/7400/1163-a
Journal of the Australian Medical Association
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/180_08_190404/bre10055_fm.html
The media
http://www.sundayherald.com/25489
http://education.guardian.co.uk/businessofresearch/story/0,9860,966962,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,31761,00.html
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1207-03.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/DailyNews/NEJM_policychange020612.html
York University, Ontario, Canada
http://www.yorku.ca/ycom/release/archive/052903-2.htm
Health Matters, ".. is non-profitmaking and has a principled editorial
policy in support of the NHS
and a reduction in health inequality both nationally and internationally."
http://www.healthmatters.org.uk/stories/morgan.html
http://www.healthmatters.org.uk/stories/mansfield.html