There continue to be lots of stories about the high cost of the new drugs to combat hepatatis C. Here's one from NPR by Melissa Block and Richard Knox.
In a previous post, I talked about the presence of a distinguished academic on the board of Gilead, the company that makes one of these drugs. It's time to ask the question more directly: Where does Dr. Richard Whitley stand on this matter?
What does his silence on this issue say to the country about his duty to two masters, a federally subsidized drug research effort and a pharmaceutical company? What message does that send to the public about how they should view the relationships between academic medical centers and industry?
We don't need a Sunshine Law to see that Scott Gottlieb has it right: The profession, and academic medicine especially, is failing in its responsibility to act as the steward of the occupation’s standards.
In a previous post, I talked about the presence of a distinguished academic on the board of Gilead, the company that makes one of these drugs. It's time to ask the question more directly: Where does Dr. Richard Whitley stand on this matter?
What does his silence on this issue say to the country about his duty to two masters, a federally subsidized drug research effort and a pharmaceutical company? What message does that send to the public about how they should view the relationships between academic medical centers and industry?
We don't need a Sunshine Law to see that Scott Gottlieb has it right: The profession, and academic medicine especially, is failing in its responsibility to act as the steward of the occupation’s standards.
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