BLOGSCAN - When Scientists Disagree with Managers: "You Want Democracy? Go to Russia"

On the Hooked: Ethics, Medicine, and Pharma Blog, Howard Brody discusses how Wyeth's chief of research and development responds to any disagreements by his scientists, "It's not a democracy. You want democracy? Go to Russia." Leaving aside the global political issues, he went on to say that the big question is "whether rigid scientific mindsets will be a barrier to further productivity gains at drug companies less interested in top-to-bottom transformation than Wyeth." Brody's key question: "How far can you shoehorn science into a business-productivity model, before science has been turned on its head completely into marketing and PR?"