Healthy Skepticism Updates
Two new publications by Healthy Skepticism have been added to the web-site:
Is consumer health information by drug companies trustworthy? The most recent AdWatch ( http://healthyskepticism.org/global/adwatch/issue/au2007-06 ), which analyses an advertorial by Pfizer published in the Australian edition of the Readers Digest in March 2007, suggests not. This advertorial is presented as consumer information on arthritis but hardly hides its main aim: half of the brochure promotes Cox-2 inhibitors, which include Pfizer’s Celebrex® (celecoxib), in a country where direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medications is illegal.
In the latest edition of Healthy Skepticism International News ( http://healthyskepticism.org/global/news/int/hsin07-06 ), Gregory Pawelski writes about the conflicts of interest inherent in the US Chemotherapy Concession, from the experience of supporting his wife as she struggled with ovarian cancer.
Also of interest is a documentary launched on June 18 called “PERx: Prescribing Evidence-Based Therapies” and the accompanying interactive website ( http://www.perxinfo.org ). Developed by Elissa Ladd, Clinical Assistant Professor at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, with filmaker, consumer advocate, and former drug rep Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, PERx illustrates how pharmaceutical industry influence affects the prescribing behaviors of clinicians, emphasizes the ethical implications of these practices and offers strategies to enhance evidence-based practice.
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