A roundup of recent topics

A number of surprises, some nice, others less so.

We were not surprised at the amount of cash flowing through the pockets of TV celebrities, within reason that is OK. However, overt product sponsorship and failure to disclose where the cash to enlarge the garden fishpond came from were depressing. Very depressing. During the 5 years we worked on antivirals, we found lots of evidence of direct sponsorship of eminent people in the influenza field, but we cannot recall any of them not disclosing potential conflicts. Their names appeared on ghostwritten and biassed trial reports, yes, but it was clear who was paying the piper.

Now, to a nice surprise. During Easter, we debated whether to serialise our walk through the Comirnaty trials. If you recall, it was all triggered by our subscriber, who, as an ophthalmologist, saw in a month more cases of Bell’s palsy than in his entire career - or something like that.  

The MHRA and Bell’s Palsy

We debated whether to delve into regulatory evidence. This is such a large source of detailed information, with documents all over…