Wow what timing, this coincides with my earlier blog about BMJ and Doctors and the Drug Industry.

Clare Leibfarth, medical librarian, posted a link to an article on medical journal articles being written by ghostwriters so that drug companies can appear to distance themselves from research.

Here is a quote from the article:

"Many articles in medical journals are ghostwritten to order for drug
companies, often by writers for medical communication companies, who appear
to be acting as intermediaries to distance drug companies from the
articles."

How I was asked to 'author' a ghostwritten research paper.
By Adriane Fugh-Berman
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1464037,00.html