A Moral Cesspool
A Moral Cesspool
“A moral cesspool.” That’s what Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania had to say about the results of an investigation by the Seattle Times. The Times found certain Wall Street investment firms are paying doctors to brief elite investors on the results of confidential and proprietary drug studies before they released those results to the general public. These investors (and their firms) act on this confidential information, taking advantage of the resulting stock moves once the information becomes public.
According to the Seattle Times, investment researchers pay doctors to talk to big money investment clients about a particular disease or emerging treatments using their expertise as doctors. But oftentimes, the doctors end up revealing confidential information about drug research. One anonymous investor describes how the scam operates:
“We get them to talk about the weather, or the Mariners, then you pop in your one innocent question you want to know about,” said the analyst, who spoke on the condition that his name not be used. “Then you switch back to whatever it was you were talking about before. When the doctor hangs up, he thinks he’s had a nice conversation about the weather or the Mariners.”
Even when the doctors don’t outwardly reveal detailed confidential results, they often reveal observations from the confidential studies that give crucial clues as to whether a drug will receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
The fact that investment firms are profiting off of inside information is bad, but what’s worse is that these doctors are compromising the research. The premature disclosures can taint the data and sink effective new treatments. And even though the drug companies are shocked (shocked!) to find that their data is being sold, they are reluctant to sue either the investment firms or the doctors because the companies need both to continue to operate. And so the gravy train keeps going.
All the while, the doctors involved plead ignorance or naiveté.
[Dr. Corey] Langer said he didn’t know what his Wall Street contacts did with his information. “They don’t tell me, and frankly I don’t want to know,” he said.
Thankfully, regulators are starting to take notice. In response to the Times’s investigation, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has instructed the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the practice.
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Greed will be our downfall. No Doubt.
August 9th, 2005 at 5:02 pmwill be?
August 9th, 2005 at 5:07 pmThroughout history, people have failed to realize the power of money and greed to overcome all kinds of ethics. Heck, if someone offered me 5 Million a year I too would probably profess to the mountain tops the glories of George W. Bush or the latest drug…
August 9th, 2005 at 5:13 pmThis is why Americans do not trust government (or institutions for that matter). Hell, where does one start with such widespread abuses we are seeing today?
August 9th, 2005 at 5:13 pmThere’s no money in a cure, but endless cash in the repeated treatment.
August 9th, 2005 at 5:24 pmChris Rock said it pretty well:
‘The government is nothing but a drug dealer on the come-back’
Frankly, it would not supprise me to find that the leaders of the drug companies are calling Wall Street on a daily basis with ‘information’. Poor Martha got caught for insider trading that netted her something less than $200,000. In the drug industry, that amounts to a small sell off to pay for maintenance on the boat in Monoco. Corporate corruption is rampant.
Seems to me that I recall in some economic history class that corporations were meant to be treated ‘like a person’. These were grand visions but soon, the law makers found they were owning corporations and easily changed the laws that corporations follow.
August 9th, 2005 at 5:32 pmThis is bad, very bad. But at least it isn’t stealing grant money from inner city kids & Alzheimers patients. Now that would be a real moral cesspool.
August 9th, 2005 at 6:37 pmYou would expect less of Republicans? Remember, they’re the party of “ME” not the party of “WE”.
August 9th, 2005 at 7:10 pmIt is about time to rethink how research is funded in higher education across the board. The use of soft money, while nice for creating luxurious labs and offices, isn’t necessarily the best way to fund research. Looks like temptation comes in buckets of cash and stock options, and I’ll bet the faculty members dishing are also cashing in that was as well. They are not as dumb as the person in the last quote would have you think.
August 9th, 2005 at 7:26 pmThis is not something done by the drug companies, it is something done by the doctors who are independent researchers usually working for university health care systems.
Whatever your persuasion politically, this is not a GOP/Dems issue. The only lawmaker to pursue this so far is Republican Senator Grassley. Many of the hedge funds involved are major Democratic donors. And many are major GOP donors. It’s equal opportunity cesspool living here.
Finally, Martha Stewart was not convicted for insider trading. To protect a $51,000 profit, she lied about her activities to government officials and went to jail for obstruction of justice.
August 9th, 2005 at 7:28 pmAnd there is a decline of trust in America — with stories like this, such decline should be no surprise.
August 9th, 2005 at 7:43 pmDrug company research has shown that the diet of a typical liberal is tofu and granola. This makes him puny and easy to throw.
August 9th, 2005 at 7:45 pmThat was funny Arnold Ziffel,beats eating your own sh*t.
August 9th, 2005 at 7:51 pmI don’t know how to ‘link’ from a post, but check this out:
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/12341191.htm
August 9th, 2005 at 8:13 pmLooks more like a shakedown entrance fee than a finders fee to me. I wonder if the teachers union members know who they were doing business with, and how the Carlyle Group makes their money, or is a 45%return too good to pass up.
August 9th, 2005 at 8:45 pmPerfect, a shark for RNC treasurer. Hope Kjellander goes to jail.
#14 Thanks for the link.
August 9th, 2005 at 8:46 pmThe diet of the typical conservative is Mad Cow Red Meat, which clogs their arteries, and makes them fat and stupid. While this does make them impossible to throw without violating the laws of physics, it yet somehow makes one strangely compelled to hurl them to another planet… Limbaugh comes to mind ;)
August 9th, 2005 at 9:08 pmKeith H’s link just goes to show the problem exists across the board. The problem is greed. Money is the Holy grail now.
Is it that the wealthy (Dems included) see that a slave class is being created by BushCo, so they are trying to make as much money as possible, to keep their lineage out of the fight. Oh, their will be a fight alright.
August 9th, 2005 at 9:24 pmSeems to me that I recall in some economic history class that corporations were meant to be treated ‘like a person’. These were grand visions but soon, the law makers found they were owning corporations and easily changed the laws that corporations follow.
Comment by Money begets money  August 9, 2005 @ 5:32 pm
You want to check out Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railraod. There are links at the Wiki entry, but before you do that, read this book:
http://gangsofamerica.com/
Send Ted some money, even though you can download the book free. Order one. It is a fantasic book. Our revolution was as much against the corporations of the day, as against the crown. The founders hated and mistrusted them. The various companies, British East India Co, et. al.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v._Southern_Pacific_Railroad
August 10th, 2005 at 12:19 amCorporation comes from the latin “corpus”, meaning body. They are legally treated as imaginary persons. No one to hold accountable. Read Ted Nace’s book:
Gangs of America. He was corporate guy himself.
http://gangsofamerica.com/
August 10th, 2005 at 12:21 amKeith and others: This is how you add a link. I’m not sure if this will format properly, so bear with me:
<A href=”http://www.blah.com/”>Link text</A>
The above link will open in the current window, replacing the page. If you want a link to open in a new window, do this:
<A href=”http://www.blah.com/” target=”_new”>Link text</A>
August 10th, 2005 at 9:40 amThanks Gary!
August 10th, 2005 at 10:01 amI think it’s disgusting that the Clinton Admin had prior knowledge of the 9/11 hijackers in 1999 and did nothing to stop them.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:02 amAlong the same lines: Halliburton is STILL doing business with Iran through one of its foreign susidiaries in the Cayman Islands,selling nuclear components under cover of oil development…….or as G.W. says NEW Q LER
August 10th, 2005 at 10:10 amhttp://www.jsonline.com/news/state/aug05/347261.asp
Look – it’s Democrats who cheat and still can’t win. This blog is the biggest bunch LIES on the web. You people are so delusional.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:11 amThe year was 2000 and G.W was on watch.Wrong.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:11 amNice post Ned have anything that actually backs up that claim, or just spouting that out to make people mad?
August 10th, 2005 at 10:12 amG.W. and his boys are murderers. Let his own people be killed for a $ and still doing it today. Traitor and enemy, of the real American patriots.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:15 amGo back to your sandbox NED.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:17 amG.W eats children’s tasty bits for breakfast smothered in country gravy.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:18 amIf I am not mistaken, all you need to do is paste the url, the blogging software embeds it as a link without an alias. No need for HTML but it won’t hurt to use it either.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:19 amNice post Ned have anything that actually backs up that claim, or just spouting that out to make people mad?
Neddy’s just dutifully spouting his RNC talking point of the day. I think this one comes via Curt Weldon, a Congressman out of Delaware. Neddy don’ need no steenkin’ back-up. If a Republican says it, it must be true, goshdarn it!
August 10th, 2005 at 10:21 amI think it’s disgusting that the Clinton Admin had prior knowledge of the 9/11 hijackers in 1999 and did nothing to stop them.
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma  August 10, 2005 @ 10:02 am
Bullshit. Weldon is a crackpot. The CIA has said so in so many words. And so are you, NED.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:21 amHe refers to a story in the NYTimes yesterday by Doug Jehl. It actually refers to a claim by a group in Miltel code named Able Danger, and it was 2000, not 1999. It is another of the wild and discredited claims from that idiot Kurt Weldon.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:24 amG.W. has homosexuals buried in the ground leaving only their asses exposed, then uses their crack for his bike stand.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:25 amOMG, NED! 9 people may have voted in 2 cities! No wonder we lost! We don’t cheat as often or as well as Republicans! Alert the media!
August 10th, 2005 at 10:27 amI love how everyone in this blog wants to pin 9/11 on Bush, but ignores evidence that it was more of a structural problem in place before Bush ever got to DC.
You people hate this country and will do anything to destroy until you regain power. You are worse than the Nazis.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:51 amNeddy, go troll somewhere else. In case you hadn’t noticed, nobody here takes you seriously anymore.
August 10th, 2005 at 10:57 amGary – in case you have noticed, voters aren’t taking you seriously anymore. That’s why you don’t have a single power base in Washington. Wake up loser and deal with reality please.
August 10th, 2005 at 11:00 am” think it’s disgusting that the Clinton Admin had prior knowledge of the 9/11 hijackers in 1999 and did nothing to stop them.”
Uh, I believe the Clinton administration fervently tried to warn the Bush Administration, during the transition between administrations, that Bin Laden and Al Queda were of extreme importance, but the Bushies IGNORED them. Just like a Rethug to dismiss what has already been testified to, under oath, in front of duly appointed committees.
As for the main post about doctors briefing elite investors on drugs before they are released on the market, didn’t Martha Stewart go to jail for this? Isn’t this called Insider Trading?
August 10th, 2005 at 11:48 amNed
if were a bunch of whinny losers who will never win anything then why do you bother to post here? If our opinions mean so little then why waste your time?
Please stop with the hate america loser speech and come up with some facts or debate. I most others here will ignore you in the future. why bother responding to you? You bring nothing to the discussion.
August 10th, 2005 at 1:23 pmYou are right, NeD. Voters aren’t taking Gary seriously; he isn’t running for office. They are, however, taking Hackett seriously in a wholly repub district. Things that make you go hmmmmmmm. Do you see this as a trend or just a fluke?
August 10th, 2005 at 3:06 pmThe big problem with academic science and insider trading is that so many might do it, senior scientists with news at a meeting can act ahead of the public and Wall Street quite easily. The “Martha Stewart as example” case would be to charge someone who is on the board of a scientific/medical association – ideally, an expert on conflicts.
August 11th, 2005 at 8:01 amYou need to cut Northeast Nutjob some slack. He really believes what he says. His brain became calcified in the late 90s while endlessly swiggin beer, listening to Rush when parked at the local liquor store and jerking off everytime he heard talk about Bill and Monica. He is just a shell of the man he used to be. Give him a break.
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