Cochrane Crisis (2018) — Gøtzsche Expulsion
artifactBiotech & Transhumanism
When even the world's gold-standard medical-evidence group purged its own co-founder for challenging drug-industry ties, it showed no watchdog is safe.
Who they are
The 2018 expulsion of Peter Gotzsche, a co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration, famous for rigorous medical reviews.
What they do
The engine treats it as evidence that even a citizen-protecting institution got bent to industry interests.
How it works
Gotzsche was voted off the governing board 6-5 after criticizing Cochrane's conflict-of-interest rules — which let authors with drug-industry ties run reviews — and after raising questions about HPV vaccine safety data; four other board members quit in protest.
Why it matters
The engine's takeaway: an organization built specifically to shield the public from corporate influence had itself been captured by industry pressure.
The engine's record — word for word
Peter Gøtzsche, co-founder of Cochrane Collaboration (globally recognized for rigorous meta-analyses), expelled from Governing Board by 6-5 vote. Had explicitly criticized Cochrane's conflict-of-interest policies (which permitted authors with pharma ties to conduct reviews) + raised methodological concerns about HPV vaccine safety data. Expulsion resulted in protest resignation of 4 other board members. Documented evidence that even institutions designed to protect citizens against corporate power had been subjugated to industry imperatives.
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