Academic Astroturfing for Medical Profits
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| JAMA has a rather scathing editorial condemning what is apparently the
| practice of ghostwriting and appending known specialists names as lead
| authors in studies that are then used to promote pharmaceuticals and medical
| devices.
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http://technocrat.net/d/2008/4/16/39686
Sounds like Microsoft and its academic kickbacks (bribery). Details below.
Related:
Microsoft Pays $200 for Mentioning Its Tools
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| If you're a professor and you mention Microsoft programming tools in a
| scholarly presentation -- in fact, even if you just use the tools --
| Microsoft will send you a check for $200.
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http://chronicle.com/data/articles.dir/art-44.dir/issue-33.dir/33a03001.htm
>From E-mail:
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0%402-651865,36-991097%4051-991184,0.html
,----[ Quote ]
| As you see, it's in French but it is short and sweet. It refers to an
| article published in the Swiss newspaper Le Temps on Monday (available for a
| payment of 2.50 Swiss francs.) But I find the Le Monde article
| sufficient and can offer a translation:
|
| 1,445: number of students in the world paid by Microsoft to
| promote favourable speech in their universities
|
| "How Microsoft has infiltrated the Swiss universities" was the
| title of the Monday Le Temps. The Genevean newspaper pointed to
| these students charged with "forging links with their peers and
| the professors" to improve the image of Bill Gates' firm in the
| universities. The program "Microsoft Student Partners" is not at
| all clandestine, it has an official Website at
| "http://student-partners.com". It is no longer at all local: the
| 1,445 students at the service of Microsoft are active in 102
| countries. In France, more than 100 students carry the title MSP
| and correspond with the Microsoft teams during their whole time in
| school. These French students have actively participated in the
| launch of the Vista operating system, organising 87 conferences
| and stands, leading 17 training sessions and moderating 42 blogs.
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