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| March 29, 2009: Larry Husten and Dr. C. Michael Gibson Discuss Medical Journalism |
Medical journalist Larry Husten and Dr. C. Michael Gibson discuss medical journalism at
ACC 2009 in Orlando, FL.
Disclosures for Dr. Gibson at the time of filming:
Present Research/Grant Funding
Schering Plough Corporation; Sanofi-Aventis; Baxter; FoldRx;
Genentech, Inc.; Astra Zeneca; HeartScape Technologies; Fold Rx;
Abbott; Cardica, Inc.; Johnson & Johnson Corporation; FibroGen, Inc.
Speakers Bureau
Schering Plough Corporation; Eli Lilly and Company; Daiichi Sankyo Company, Inc;
Consultant
The Medicines Company; Bayer Corporation; Archemix Corporation;
Heartscape Technologies, Inc.; Angel Medical Systems; Schering Plough
Corporation; Portola Corporation; John & Johnson Corporation; ICON
Medical Imaging; Jim Moran Heart and Vascular Research Institute
Stock Ownership
My wife owns stock in HealthMarx Inc.
Royalties as a Contributor
UpToDate in Cardiovascular Medicine
Past Research/Grant Funding/Past Speakers Bureau/Past Consulting
ActivBiotics, Inc.; Acusphere, Inc.; Astra; Sanofi-Aventis
Corporation; Bard Corporation; Boston Scientific Corporation; Bristol
Meyers Squibb Company; British Biotech, plc.; Ciba Geigy Corporation;
Corgentech, Inc.; COR Therapeutics; DVI Guidant Corporation;
GlaxoSmithKline; Genentech, Inc.; Merck & Co., Inc.; Millennium
Pharmaceuticals; NIH; Pfizer; Percusurge, Inc.; Smith Kline Beecham;
Sonus; St. Jude Medical; timi3 Systems, Inc.; Ascenta Therapeutics,
Inc; CardioKinetix, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; KAI Pharmaceuticals;
Nuvelo; INO Therapeutics, LLC; Point Biomedical Corporation; Portola
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; The Medicines Company; Ascenta Therapeutics;
Atrium Medical Corporation; Biogen IDEC; PDL Pharmaceuticals; timi3
Systems; Momenta Pharmaceuticals; Novartis Corporation;
Current disclosures for Dr. Gibson can be found at:
http://en.wikidoc.org/index.php/C._Michael_Gibson
[ Download video ] |
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About Medical Journalism: I asked Mr. Larry Husten last year at ACC 08 Chicago about his policy of censoring -and withdrawing access from- the Forum of theheart.org that he controlled for about 9 years.
No explanation [but discomfort and \"I don\'t want to discuss this\"] as to why he censored at least 2 senior doctors [one prof/cardiologist with ~10,000 angiographies to his name] and myself with ~15 Medline references regarding heart disease. How many others were censored from posting/participating in debate that was objectionable to Mr. Husten, to management or to bottom-line people?
Such \"ethnic cleansing\" of non pharma/drug supporting -but referenced- postings, in this case, was by a man who lists a PhD in English and a taxi career [his blog <B>http://cardiobrief.org/about-2/</B>]. Such censorship of points of view of even senior doctors by people without medical or scientific background compromises the credibility of <B>theheart.org</B>, associated <B>WebMD</B>, <B>HeartWire</B> and even <B>Medscape</B>.
How can Mr. Husten now argue that non scientists are better equipped to communicate medicine objectively to the public? His past behaviour as a censor of opinions, --and his censoring on April 11/12 of 2 postings on <B>CardioBrief.org</B> [related to the larger <B>ClinicalTrialResults.com</B>] is telling. Medical \'journalist\' [real Journalists, I\'d hope, don\'t censor] may obviously act as paid spokesman for pharma.
I\'m with Dr. Gibson on this: we need MORE Dr. Guptas and now we have to get rid of paid spokesmen masquerading as objective and/or while acting as censors in areas where they have no evident background. These sites should be operated under scientific leadership and include some without conflict of interest. If not, the above mentioned websites become nothing more than slanted throwaways that may do more harm than good.
While Dr. Gibson properly declares his conflicts of interests, Mr. Huston does not while his % of pharma derived/dependent income may well be much larger than Dr. Gibson\'s. Journalist can also be compromised by conflict of interest, a topic that might have deserved attention in the video clip above. vos{at}health-heart.org [no conflict of interest]
Posted on 2009-04-13 09:22:10 by Mr. Eddie Vos.
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