Former New England Journal of Medicine Editor Marcia Angell of Harvard Medical School in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday "continu[ed] her public criticism" of pharmaceutical companies, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Angell, author of the 2004 book "The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What To Do About It," has accused drug companies of price gouging and conducting biased research, among other allegations. During the speech, Angell said drug companies are "involved intimately in every detail of the research" for new drugs, and "they design the research so that their drugs look better than they really are." Angell also has called for the federal government to negotiate directly with drug companies for the Medicare prescription drug benefit and said the structure of the current program benefits companies more than beneficiaries. Ken Johnson, senior vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, on Thursday said, "Marcia Angell's misguided solution is to let government bureaucrats choose medicines for patients instead of allowing patients and their doctors to determine the best course of treatment." Johnson also criticized a recent Boston Globe opinion piece by Angell that criticized PhRMA president and CEO Billy Tauzin, who is a former member of Congress. In the opinion piece, Angell wrote that Tauzin sponsored the Medicare drug benefit, then left his position in Congress soon after the legislation passed. Angell wrote, "He was rewarded with a high-paying job as chief executive of the pharmaceutical industry's trade association." Johnson said Tauzin left Congress because he was diagnosed with cancer and accepted the position at PhRMA after a drug produced by a firm in the industry group helped him to overcome his disease. Johnson wrote, "This experience made him an advocate for researching and developing new medicines to fight diseases" (Connolly, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 2/23).

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