Scientists who drew up the key World Health Organisation guidelines advising governments to stockpile drugs in the event of a flu pandemic had previously been paid by drug companies which stood to profit, according to a report out today.
An investigation by the British Medical Journal and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the not-for-profit reporting unit, shows that WHO guidance issued in 2004 was authored by three scientists who had previously received payment for other work from Roche, which makes Tamiflu, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), manufacturer of Relenza.
City analysts say that pharmaceutical companies banked more than $7bn (£4.8bn) as governments stockpiled drugs. The issue of transparency has risen to the forefront of public health debate after dramatic predictions last year about a swine flu pandemic did not come true.
[…]
The tentacles of drug company influence are in all levels in the decision-making process,” said Paul Flynn, the Labour MP who sits on the council’s health committee. “It must be right that the WHO is transparent because there has been distortion of priorities of public health services all over Europe, waste of huge sums of public money and provocation of unjustified fear.”
Sur-prahs, sur-prahs, sur-prahs. Where’s the American inquiry?
Uh no. The swine flu is coming back I tell ya!
It’s just taking a well deserved vacation down under for now. Watch yo’ ass Mr. Honeyman. If that truly is your name…..
Thank you for this article.
They are drug dealers. What did you expect ?
Good article. Looking forward to hearing that “we told you so” jingle.
Follow the money, ALWAYS.
This is an example of why “nation critical” functions should not be privatized (or outsourced for crying out loud!)
Keeping our population healthy from pandemics should be a core government responsibility not compromised by profit motive.
#6 said, “This is an example of why “nation critical” functions should not be privatized ”
It wasn’t. The CDC was pushing this in the U.S. at the urging of “WHO”. The CDC has its own scientists who review the data before making recommendations. So, the Gov FAILED here. It was TOTALLY of gov push. Perhaps you missed all the news coverage over the last year.
I’ll bet these scientists had “peer-reviewed” documentation to make their point. Sound like any other BS being pushed by heavily funded scientists?
#6 you are sooooo naive. All politicians are motivated by profit. Do you think they “vote” in favor of supporting corporations for free? If they don’t take money directly under the table, they take it in campaign donations, or promises of positions on the “board of directors” or some other well paying cushy job after they eventually get voted out or “retire from public service”. Unplug from the matrix!
@Anon
Follow the money, ALWAYS.
Yep, this is why we STILL don’t have the government transparency that BHO promised. If the American people actually knew where the money went we might have a few government officials lynched.