“This Corporation Has ‘Anesthetized’ the Actors in the Drug Chain”. Influence peddling and the normality of conflicts of interest in the Mediator® scandal - HAL-SHS - Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société
Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2021

“This Corporation Has ‘Anesthetized’ the Actors in the Drug Chain”. Influence peddling and the normality of conflicts of interest in the Mediator® scandal

Résumé

In 2009 the drug benfluorex (Mediator®) has been withdrawn from the French market due to risk, morbidity and mortality assessment of its cardiopulmonary side effects. The Mediator affair has become the evident key event for disclosure and agenda setting of the notion of COI in the country’s pharmaceutical sector and beyond. In 2011 four administrative and parliament inquiry committees (Inspectorate General of Sanitary Affairs, Senate, National Assembly) examined corporate influence, bonds and conflicts of interests and illegal influence peddling of market introduction and maintenance of the drug during its 33 years of commercial existence. Our objective is to examine the central declaration from the inquiries that ‘this corporation has anaesthetized’ the actors in the drug chain’ asking who these drug chain actors are, what the term ‘anaesthetized’ precisely refers to and how matching of interests between drug chain actors normalized forms of influence to the point that interest alignments today framed as conflicts were naturalized for decades, and to some degree professional’s resistance not to do so remains. Leaving ongoing legal indictment against potential individual perpetrators of influence peddling and corruption aside, we turn to an inquiry about drug chain actor’s ordinary non-perception and acceptance of being influenced or ‘anaesthetized’ by pharmaceutical companies and ignoring or distancing themselves from a problematization of corporate influence framed as COI. The study is based first on an analysis of the four investigation reports, the actors they identify and their shortcomings in evaluating initial evidence for market authorization, tolerance to limited proof for efficacy and ignorance of safety pharmacovigilance notifications. A second part of the paper based on a sociological survey conducted between 2012 and 2015 with 300 cardiologists explores their perception of what becomes apparent as their normality of professional conflict of interest and their resistance to change. Therefore, the paper investigates the systemic or structural elements of the phenomenon that has been problematized as COI beyond individual responsibility or conduct.
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Dates et versions

halshs-04704442 , version 1 (20-09-2024)

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Citer

Solène Lellinger, Christian Bonah. “This Corporation Has ‘Anesthetized’ the Actors in the Drug Chain”. Influence peddling and the normality of conflicts of interest in the Mediator® scandal. Boris Hauray; Henri Boullier; Jean-Paul Gaudillière; Hélène Michel. Conflict of Interest and Medicine, 1, Routledge, pp.181-200, 2021, 10. 0367751151. ⟨10.4324/9781003161035-9⟩. ⟨halshs-04704442⟩
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