February 8

Sham Peer Review

"Sham Peer Review" exists in the way hospitals and insurance
companies hold sway on patient care.

Below a letter in response to an article on Medscape by Dr. Mark McDonnel,
suggests that "sham review" is much too mild–"bad faith," in his opinion,
is a more apt term.
 
We agree, physician-scientists who lend their name to ghostwritten journal
articles or  who submit for publication their analysis of only partial clinical trial
results should be  regarded as acting in  "bad faith."  Their actions undermine the safety of
patients and the integrity of medicine.

 
Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav
212-595-8974
veracare@ahrp.org
 
 
 
>From Medscape  General MedicineT
(http://www.medscape.com/pages/homepages/ejournal/mgm)
   
Letters
Readers’ Responses to the Letter by Chalifoux and the  Editorial by Bond in
Regard to "Sham Peer Review"

Posted 02/02/2006
   
Mark F. McDonnell, MD; Lawrence R. Huntoon, MD, PhD,  FAAN; John Majerus;
John Wright, MD, FRACS,  FACS

To the Editor,
I read with interest the recent article on sham peer review.[1] I  was even
more interested in the recent editorial by Mr. Bond on the same  topic,[2]
because it suggests a very plausible motive for sham peer  review to occur,
namely, economic domination of the physician community.
 
 It is obvious that an independent physician community is the greatest  
economic threat to the health insurance-hospital industrial complex. Good
doctors
are especially dangerous to this conglomerate, because they put their  
patients’ interests ahead of the dictates of managed care or of the local
hospital’s
economic success. As Mr. Bond elucidates, this health  insurance-hospital
industrial complex initially tried to control physicians by  purchasing
their
practices but found that the good doctors cannot be bought. The  "final
solution"
seems to be to eliminate troublesome doctors altogether, with  sham peer
review as the ultimate weapon. Denying care to our patients apparently  was
just
not profitable enough.
 
 I also would strenuously object to this term of "sham" peer review as being

much too mild. With the heinous level to which all of this activity has
risen,
I  think that the term "bad faith" peer review (with all of its legal
implications)
 better describes the situation and should be used exclusively.
Victimized  physicians need to organize and strike back against the bad
faith actions
of the  health insurance-hospital industrial complex and its minions.

Moreover, all  physicians must become informed of this latest attempt to
dominate
medicine and  must support their victimized colleagues. Bad faith peer
review is
a crime  against patients, physicians, and medicine itself.
 
 Mark F. McDonnell, MD
Houston, Texas
_mfmcdonnell@stpsinc.com_ (mailto:mfmcdonnell@stpsinc.com)
 
  References
       1.  Chalifoux R, Jr. So what is a sham peer review? MedGenMed.  
    2005;7:47. Available at:
http://medgenmed.medscape.com/viewarticle/515862 Accessed
    November 15,  2005.  
        2.  Bond C. Editorial in response to "what is sham peer review?"

    MedGenMed. 2005;7:48. Available at:
http://medgenmed.medscape.com/viewarticle/515869
    Accessed November 15,  2006.


Subscribe To Our Newsletter!

Sign up and be the first to find out the latest news and articles about what's going on in the medical field.


You may also like

November 21, 2023

Vera Sharav is joining Christine Anderson as special guest for the Make It Your Business event in

Read More
Vera Sharav Joins Christine Anderson for Make It Your Business – Dec 4, 2023 in New Jersey

November 21, 2023

Vera Sharav is premiering the movie Never Again is Now Global in New York City, December 1.

Read More
Never Again is Now Global – Premiere Screening – Dec 1, 2023 in New York City