Institutionalizing dissent: A proposal for an adversarial system of pharmaceutical research

Title: Institutionalizing dissent: A proposal for an adversarial system of pharmaceutical research
Format: Journal Article
Publication Date: December 2013
Published In: Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal
Description: There are serious problems with the way in which pharmaceutical research is currently practiced, many of which can be traced to the influence of commercial interests on research. One of the most significant is inadequate dissent, or organized skepticism. In order to ameliorate this problem, I develop a proposal that I call the "Adversarial Proceedings for the Evaluation of Pharmaceuticals," to be instituted within a regulatory agency such as the Food and Drug Administration for the evaluation of controversial new drugs and controversial drugs already in the market. This proposal is an organizational one based upon the "science court" proposal by Arthur Kantrowitz in the 1960s and 1970s. The primary benefit of this system is its ability to institutionalize dissent, thereby ensuring that one set of interests does not dominate all others. © 2013 by The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Ivan Allen College Contributors:
Citation: Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal. 23. Issue 4. 325 - 353. ISSN 1054-6863. DOI 10.1353/ken.2013.0013.
Related Departments:
  • School of Public Policy