
Peter Christian Gøtzsche (born 26 November 1949) is a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
physician, medical researcher, and former leader of the
Nordic Cochrane Center at
Rigshospitalet
Rigshospitalet (meaning ''The National'', ''State'' or ''Hospital of the Realm'', but not usually translated) is the largest public and teaching hospital in Copenhagen and the most highly specialised hospital in Denmark. The hospital's main buildi ...
in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Denmark.
He is a co-founder of the
Cochrane Collaboration and has written numerous reviews for the organization. His membership in Cochrane was terminated by its Governing Board of Trustees on 25 September 2018.
[ ]
Biography
After completing high school, Gøtzsche studied science graduating with a Master of Science in biology and chemistry in 1974.
[Archived biography of Nordic Cochrane]
/ref> He worked briefly as a teacher. In 1975 he took a job in the pharmaceutical industry as a drug representative for Astra AB
Astra AB was a former international pharmaceutical company headquartered in Södertälje, Sweden. Astra was formed in 1913 and merged with the British Zeneca, Zeneca Group in 1999 to form AstraZeneca. Product development was focused on therapeutics ...
; several months later he became a product manager. In 1977 Gøtzsche took a position at Astra-Syntex and was responsible for clinical trials. While at Astra-Syntex he started to study medicine and graduated as a physician in 1984.[
Gøtzsche worked at hospitals in Copenhagen 1984–1995. He co-founded with Sir Iain Chalmers and about 80 other investigators The Cochrane Collaboration in 1993. The same year he established The Nordic Cochrane Centre. In 2010, Gøtzsche was named Professor of Clinical Research Design and Analysis at the ]University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
.[ A professorship that was later retracted from the university. In 2017, he was elected a member of the Governing Board of Cochrane. In September 2018 he was expelled from Cochrane Collaboration. In 2019 Gøtzsche founded a new Institute for Scientific Freedom, whose goal is "to preserve honesty and integrity in science".
]
Research and reviews
Among his research findings are that placebo
A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
In general ...
has surprisingly little effect
and that many meta-analyses may have data extraction errors.
Gøtzsche and his coauthors have at times criticized the research methods and interpretations of other scientists, e.g. in meta-analysis of placebo.
Gøtzsche has commented on meta-analysis,
and the editorial independence of medical journals.
He has written about issues surrounding medical ghostwriting Medical ghostwriters are employed by pharmaceutical companies and medical-device manufacturers to produce apparently independent manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and other communications. Physicians and other scientis ...
with the position that it is scientific misconduct. He has also criticized the widespread use of SSRI antidepressants.
Critique of mammography screening
Gøtzsche has been critical of screening
Screening may refer to:
* Screening cultures, a type a medical test that is done to find an infection
* Screening (economics), a strategy of combating adverse selection (includes sorting resumes to select employees)
* Screening (environmental), a ...
for breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...
using mammography
Mammography (also called mastography) is the process of using low-energy X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer, typically through d ...
, arguing that it cannot be justified; his critique has caused controversy.
His critique stems from a meta-analysis
A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies. Meta-analyses can be performed when there are multiple scientific studies addressing the same question, with each individual study reporting me ...
he did on mammography screening studies and published as ''Is screening for breast cancer with mammography justifiable?'' in ''The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
'' in 2000.
In it he discarded 6 out of 8 studies arguing their randomization was inadequate.
In 2006 a paper by Gøtzsche on mammography screening was electronically published in the ''European Journal of Cancer
The ''European Journal of Cancer'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal devoted to cancer research on experimental oncology, clinical oncology (medical, paediatric, radiation, surgical), and on cancer epidemiology and prevention. It is the official j ...
'' ahead of print.
The journal later removed the paper completely from the journal website without any formal retraction.
The paper was later published in ''Danish Medical Bulletin
The ''Danish Medical Journal'' is a monthly peer-reviewed general medical journal published by the Danish Medical Association. It was established in 1954 as the ''Danish Medical Bulletin'', obtaining its current name effective with the January 201 ...
'' with a short note from the editor,
and Gøtzsche and his coauthors commented on the unilateral retraction that the authors were not involved in.
In 2012 his book ''Mammography Screening: Truth, Lies and Controversy'' was published. In 2013 his book ''Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Healthcare'' was published.
Critique of reviews of HPV vaccine
At the behest of the Danish Health and Medicines Authorities the European Medicines Agency
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products or Euro ...
(EMA) was charged to review data in women concerning use of HPV vaccine
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are vaccines that prevent infection by certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Available HPV vaccines protect against either two, four, or nine types of HPV. All HPV vaccines protect against at least HP ...
s and the possible development of rare side effects, namely complex regional pain syndrome
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is any of several painful conditions that are characterized by a continuing (spontaneous and/or evoked) regional pain that is seemingly disproportionate in time or degree to the usual course of any known trau ...
(CRPS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). EMA's review was issued in November 2015 and found no causal relationship. Louise Brinth, a Danish physician who had published observational studies on POTS, subsequently critiqued the EMA review in a detailed rebuttal. Gøtzsche supported her and issued a formal complaint to the EMA criticizing their report in May 2018.
Gøtzsche et al. also found faults with a 2018 Cochrane review of the HPV vaccine. The review had judged the vaccine as effective and did not find an increased risk of serious adverse effects.
Expulsion from Cochrane
Gøtzsche, who had been elected to the Governing Board in 2017, was expelled from the Board and the organization after a 6 to 5 vote of the 13-member board at the annual meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland in September 2018.[ The Board announced the step on September 26 expelling Gøtzsche because of an "ongoing, consistent pattern of disruptive and inappropriate behaviours ..., taking place over a number of years, which undermined this culture and were detrimental to the charity’s work, reputation and members."][
Gøtzsche, critical of the pharmaceutical industry and what he sees as its influence on medicine, expressed concern about "growing top-down authoritarian culture and an increasingly commercial business model" at Cochrane that "threaten the scientific, moral and social objectives of the organization."][ He stated that "Cochrane no longer lives up to its core values of collaboration, openness, transparency, accountability, democracy and keeping the drug industry at arm’s length." After the expulsion, four members of the Board resigned and two had to leave to restore a balance between appointed and elected members, throwing the organization into turmoil.]
Gerd Antes of Cochrane Deutschland interpreted the situation as a "governance crisis" and called for "the strict orientation on the objectives and fundamental principles of Cochrane" naming "(s)cientific rigour, knowledge with minimal bias, maximum trust and consistent safeguarding against interest-driven influence on the evidence" as primary.
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Reports
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References
External links
Peter C. Gøtzsche
official
Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime
official
Institute for Scientific Freedom
official
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotzsche, Peter C.
Danish medical researchers
Living people
1949 births
People from Copenhagen
Place of birth missing (living people)
Placebo researchers
Cochrane Collaboration people