Biz media needs to improve drug industry coverage

GlaxoSmithKline CEO J.P. Garnier called on the business media to improve its coverage of the pharmaceutical industry, saying it reports a number of myths.

“I read the press,” said Garnier at the fall Society of American Business Editors and Writers conference. “I also read the British press. So it’s painful twice.”

His solution: Educate the public and provide more balance. “It’s not a pleasant message, but you gave me the opportunity to come and give it to you,” said Garnier.

Garnier said that two out of every three readers don’t trust the media. “And that will be the cancer that will kill the media,” he added.

He said there are good journalists who take the time to write a “crack-up job,” but the ones that don’t are those who spent less time on their reporting and understanding the topic.

He said that some of the myths in the business media about the drug industry include that the industry is to blame for rising health care costs, that most new drugs come from academia, not the industry, and that the industry spends more money advertising its drugs than on developing new drugs.Â

“You are reporting on something that has tremendous importance,” said Garnier. “There is a more serious consequence.”

He argued that bad and uninformed reporting about Avandia, a diabetes drug from Glaxo, caused some patients to stop taking the drug, which resulted in other health care problems.

“All of this because of extremely bad reporting on the issue,” said Garnier.

Garnier added that patients have stopped using inhalers and children have stopped being innoculated for diseases as a result of misleading reporting about the drug industry.

“By scaring people away from them, you are playing a very dangerous roulette,” said Garnier.”

He argued that plaintiff’s attorneys should not be considered a reliable source for journalists. “They are in it for the money, and they want to use the newspaper to make their case to the public,” he argued.