Corruption and Fraud in Medical Journals

Richard Smith, ex-editor of the British Medical Journal, has just published a book titled The Trouble with Medical Journals in which he blasts for their lax oversight. The following is an excerpt from PharmaGossip's nice summary.

He said: "It is increasingly apparent that many of the studies journals contain are fraudulent, and the scientific community has not responded adequately to the problem of fraud."He added: "I went away to Venice to write this book and I was rather taken aback by how negatively it turned out. When I put together all the evidence on journals I was surprised by the extent of the problems."

Dr Smith went on: "Medical journals have increasingly become creatures of the drug industry. The authors of studies in journals have often had little do with the work they are reporting."The use of ghost writers by pharmaceutical companies is rampant and many studies have conflicts of interest that are not declared."

I've not had the good fortune of reading Dr. Smith's book, but it's officially added to my to-do list!