“The Manipulation Is Disgusting”
“The manipulation is disgusting. “That’s Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association reacting to news reports that Merck & Company frequently paid academic scientists to put their names on research articles actually authored by the company’s own medical writers.
Two separate stories, published in this month’s JAMA, claim Merck frequently paid academic researchers to take credit for articles prepared by medical writers the company hired. The practice is called ghostwriting. It’s not new. But the extent to which Merck went to influence the interpretation and publication of research has come as a surprise even to those familiar with the ways of Pharma.
“We’re the ones who allowed this to happen. Now we’ve got to make it stop,” says Dr. DeAngelis.
Merck pleads innocent, saying that many of the comments in the JAMA reports were “false, misleading or lack context.”
Regardless, this is a black eye for Merck, and big Pharma in general.
Public mistrust of the Pharmaceutical industry is nothing new. In fact, Pharma’s image is so bad that when oil company executives are accused of price gouging and profiteering, they frequently try to change the subject by pointing out their profit margins pale in comparison to those of pharmaceutical companies. (It’s true. Pharma’s profit margins are almost triple those of oil companies. But that’s apples and oranges, and as they say, another story.)
What’s interesting here is that in all its maneuvering since the FDA pulled VIOXX off the market in 2004, Merck has done little to improve its image with the American public. It may be that anything even slightly apologetic would only come back to haunt Merck in the countless civil lawsuits from VIOXX users. Even so, one wonders why Merck remains so clueless about public perception.
Merck’s management, like that of most major corporations, fails to see value in managing public perception. They don’t understand that where public perception is concerned, guilt and innocence are irrelevant. The court of public opinion rules first and foremost on the appearance of impropriety.
Protecting oneself from the appearance of impropriety requires an outside-in approach. It means examining corporate issues and behaviors for any possible areas of misunderstanding, any potential negative story or scandal.
Good communicators are careful to say things in ways that people understand. Great communicators say things in ways that people never misunderstand.
Or, as Ben Franklin said, “It’s best to pursue life as a pessimist, prepared for the worst and over joyed when it does not occur.”
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