ANALYSIS & COMMENT: Ethical Considerations of Publication Planning in
the Pharmaceutical Industry, Adriane Fugh-Berman, M.D., and Susanna Dodgson, Ph.D.

"Just over a week ago, a major drugmaker made headlines internationally-not because of a breakthrough medication but because of allegations that the company used medical ghostwriters to pen journal articles favourable to one of its products.

Within biomedical publishing, the term ghostwriting describes the practice in which a guest author, usually a clinician or scientist, is recruited and assigned to a journal article that he or she has not written-a fact that is not disclosed to the journal's editors or readers. A series of high-profile cases and a recent investigation by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee into the influence of pharmaceutical companies on the healthcare sector suggests that the practice is widespread."

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