 |
| GSK - Flying the Flag of Hypocrisy |
Hypocrisy is the state of promoting or administering virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have or is also guilty of violating. Hypocrisy often involves the deception of others and thus can be considered a kind of lie [1]
Irish blogger, Leonie Fennell, recently highlighted the Irish media [RTE] accepting awards from GlaxoSmithKline for, of all things, a TV program about the history of clinical trials with children!
Perversely, Glaxo Ireland proudly announce on their webpage that, "The purpose of the GSK Irish Medical Media Awards is to recognise the important contribution of Irish medical and consumer healthcare journalists. Here in Ireland, we’re extremely fortunate to have a strong, independent media that can, and does, challenge pre-conceptions, ask the hard questions and push for answers."
Aidan Lynch, Vice President and General Manager of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ireland, presented winners with their awards.
Story of the Year was awarded to Tanya Sillem and Katie Hannon for their RTE PrimeTime Special, "Anatomy of a Scandal", which was cited as being "an outstanding investigation into the history of clinical trials with children."
What staggers me about this particular award is that the program showed how babies were used as test subjects by pharmaceutical companies who were trialing new vaccines.
Here's part of the narrative from the program: [2]
"Vaccine trials in children’s home without consent would not be allow under the Nuremburg Code, a set of guidelines agreed following the trial of Nazi doctors after World War II. Yet these guidelines were blatantly ignored in the rush for medical advancements in the post war period.
"We’re told how these babies were given numerous 3 in one injections. GlaxoSmithKline was the company doing the vaccine experiments on these children."
Anyone else find it ironic that Glaxo are now giving awards to investigative journalists for highlighting their dark history?
I'm tempted to send them my home address!
Anatomy of a Scandal can be watched in full HERE
[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hypocrite
[2] http://annedachel.com/2011/10/29/prime-time-video-investigation-of-vaccine-trials-on-irish-children-in-institutions/
No comments: