Follow the Science Quotes

“Looking at a few of the top players, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, PhRMA, spent $27.6 million on lobbying in 2023 alone. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the big industry group for pharmaceutical and insurance middlemen called PBAs, laid out $15.4 million for lobbying during the same year. Pfizer, Amgen, Merck, Roche, Eli Lily, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Gilead Sciences spent between $8.3 million and $14.3 million each lobbying to get what they want. Those are just a few. What is it these drug industry interests want? Many desires are on the table. It could be they want to increase the chances that the government will agree to pay lucrative prices for their star products through Medicare and Medicaid, insurance for the elderly and poor. It could be that the pharmaceutical companies are paying for access so that their lobbyists are invited to help write congressional bills to their benefit—and deep-six provisions that could hurt their bottom line.”
― Sharyl Attkisson, Follow the Science: How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures, and Prevails

“Sadly, today, you can put most news and quasi-news sources in the category of those that should not be taken at face value on health matters. It doesn’t mean that every article they publish is wrong or that all their reporters are bad. In fact, many organizations that rank among the worst offenders for health misinformation also have some very good reporters who work there. But those reporters are inevitably drowned out by their publication’s indefensible editorial slant. Don’t assume you are getting the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth from these frequently biased sources: The Atlantic, CNN, Daily Beast, Daily Kos, Forbes, Fortune, The Hill, Huffington Post, Intelligencer, Mediaite, Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, MSNBC, New York, New York Times, Politico, Salon, Slate, Talking Points Memo, USA Today, Vaxopedia, Vox, or Washington Post.”
― Sharyl Attkisson, Follow the Science: How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures, and Prevails

“One of the Syngenta documents was a spiral notebook. In it, Syngenta’s PR team had drafted a list of ways to attack the uncooperative assistant professor. “[D]iscredit Hayes,” reads one item. Syngenta communications manager Sherry Ford wrote that the company could “prevent citing of [Hayes’s] data by revealing him as noncredible,” “have his work audited by 3rd party,” “ask journals to retract,” and “set trap to entice him to sue.” Ford also wrote about looking for ways to “exploit Hayes’s faults/problems,” and speculated that if he were “involved in scandal, enviros [environmentalists] will drop him.”
― Sharyl Attkisson, Follow the Science: How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures, and Prevails

“But expressing that majority view has become increasingly forbidden.”
― Sharyl Attkisson, Follow the Science: How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures, and Prevails

“It is a strange time indeed when doctors are trained to be incurious and incautious, and when they are trained in ideology over evidence.”
― Sharyl Attkisson, Follow the Science: How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures, and Prevails

“In short, remember the censors are never the good guys.”
― Sharyl Attkisson, Follow the Science: How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures, and Prevails