Dr. Do-Right Eric Topol is demoted. “The hardest thing in the world is just trying to tell the truth, to do the right thing for patients, and you get vilified. No wonder nobody stands up to the industry.”

CancerDoc thinks something here doesn’t pass the smell test:

It’s pathetic. At my institution, many of the professors put up this stance that they are so pure and intellectual. However, if you probe deeply, you find that 90% of them do “speakers bureau” for Pharma or do other drug talks or take “honoraria” for unclear work or take kickbacks for each patient enrolled on a pharmaceutical trial. Not only does this result in the massive conflicts of interest that result in a Vioxx scandal or antidepressant scandal, but it also just perverts the whole system. At least in industry, business and private practice, it is obvious that money is a primary motivator. But, the university system maintains a veneer of autonomy and sanctity.