Related article in today's Toronto Star op-ed, written by Dr. Nancy Oliveri about the death of the writer John Le Carre. The author had interviewed Dr. Oliveri extensively in his research for his novel 'The Constant Gardener'. Dr. Olivieri encurred the wrath of Barry Sherman and he used his financial influence extensively to mute her. The novel is a story about 'an international conspiracy of corrupt bureaucracy and pharmaceutical money'.
Opinion | Nancy Olivieri: How John le Carré changed my life
''The story begins in 1996. As a young(ish) physician and researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children, I raised concerns about the safety of a drug in a clinical trial. My unfavourable findings displeased Barry Sherman, CEO of a drug company that had supplied modest funding to my clinical trials. What followed was the unilateral, abrupt and premature shutdown of my trials, followed by threats that “all legal remedies” would be sought against me if I published my concerns or disclosed them to patients.''
''He knew, as I had only recently discovered, that doctors who signed deals with Pharma regularly concealed side effects of the drug under study. He was aware of how drugs were approved for sale by regulators who, confronted with evidence of biased science, preferred to look the other way. He also understood that Big Pharma exploits not only doctors, universities and hospitals, but also “patient advocacy” groups.
''So I related how disclosure of my negative findings had, unknown to me, threatened the interests — in addition to those of Sherman — of my academic institution. That summer, the University of Toronto had been negotiating the largest donation in the university’s history, with millions promised as well to several affiliated hospitals including the Hospital for Sick Children, from Barry Sherman.''
''At this point my career as a researcher was now in dire peril, while the path to truth-telling had also proved costly: in challenging efforts repeatedly to fire and discredit me, and defences against Sherman, whose threats soon escalated to lawsuits, I ultimately spent over a million dollars. (The longest proceeding, launched after Sherman’s remarks about me to a disbelieving Lesley Stahl on “60 Minutes,” took 14 years to reach a settlement.)
There were more bizarre twists, about which David had of course read. One involved Sick Kids’ researcher Dr. Gideon Koren, who had allied with Pharma interests. Koren denied sending eight months of anonymous hate mail disparaging my supporters, but DNA left on a licked stamp ultimately revealed his authorship. (Koren received a slap on the wrist, unqualified continuing support from the university, and proceeded on to further villainy.
)''
Thanks for the reminder WINDSOR, meant to read and/ or watch the film.
The Constant Gardener - Wikipedia
First UK edition cover
''The Constant Gardener is a 2001
novel by British author
John le Carré. The novel tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat whose
activist wife is murdered. Believing there is something behind the murder, he seeks to uncover the truth and finds an international
conspiracy of corrupt bureaucracy and pharmaceutical money.
The plot was based on a
real-life case in Kano, Nigeria. The book was later adapted into a
feature film in 2005.''
