Ben Goldacre has stated in his “bad science” blog on 11 October 2012 that, “The ABPI claims that all the problems in my book are “historical”. This claim is simply untrue.” Ben Goldacre goes on to set out a detailed history of the systematic failings big industry players have made in the sector, namely withholding vital information on the side effects of drugs being prescribed to patients and how some clinical trials have been found to have gone completely unpublished, with those trials producing better results being more likely to be published than those with negative results.
Mr Goldacre stands by his research and the findings in his book. He strongly contests the ABPI’s statement, arguing that the failings of the industry continue and that unless the industry starts taking his findings more seriously, patients will continue to suffer as a result. He strongly believes that if the industry accepted these failings, including publishing clinical trial data in full, that the demand for change would be so powerful that the result would inevitably be a change that would only seek to protect the interests of patients further.