PhRMA hits back at ex-NEJM editor claims

Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), has launched a rebuttal of criticisms made by Marcia Angell, the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, directed against Billy Tauzin, the PhRMA's president and the drug industry in general. Mr Johnson's comments appeared in the Memphis, Tennessee newspaper, Commercial Appeal.

Ms Angell addressed a meeting in Memphis, where she accused drugmakers of "design[ing] the research so that their drugs look better than they really are." She also supported Democratic party efforts to reform the Medicare Modernization Act 2003, to ensure that the federal government negotiates drug prices for the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit directly with drugmakers, a measure that is resisted by Michael Leavitt, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Marketletters passim).

Mr Johnson said: "Marcia Angell's misguided solution is to let government bureaucrats choose medicines for patients instead of allowing patients and their doctors to determine the best course of treatment." He also responded to a recent claim in the Boston Globe newspaper by Ms Angell, alleging that Mr Tauzin was offered the position of PhRMA president as a "reward" for his sponsoring the Medicare Modernization Act, in his then capacity as a Republican party member of the House of Representatives.