ABSTRACT
Healthcare is so corrupt that those who expose drug companies’ criminal acts become pariahs. Those who threaten the income from the crimes are exposed to violence, the difference being that in the drug industry, the violence is not of a physical but psychological nature, which can be equally devastating. This violence includes intimidation, instigation of fear, threats of firing or legal proceedings, actual firing and litigation, unfounded accusations of scientific misconduct, and other attempts at defamation and destruction of research careers. David Graham needed con-gressional protection to keep his job after threats, abuse, intimidation and lies that culminated in his sacking from the agency. The threats can be particularly malignant when scientists have found lethal harms with marketed drugs that the companies have successfully concealed. A Danish researcher who was critical towards giving women hormones around menopause received letters with threats of legal action from drug companies, even though it was documented at the time that the drugs are harmful.
