Peter C. Gøtzsche

After completing high school, Gøtzsche studied science graduating with a Master of Science in biology and chemistry in 1974.[https://web.archive.org/web/20180918210810/http://nordic.cochrane.org/peter-c-g%C3%B8tzsche Archived biography of Nordic Cochrane] He worked briefly as a teacher. In 1975 he took a job in the pharmaceutical industry as a drug representative for Astra AB; several months later he became a product manager.{{cite book |author=Peter Gøtzsche |title=Deadly Medicines and Organized Crime |publisher=CRC Press |year=2013 |page=14ff |isbn=978-1846198847}} 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 from 1984 to 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. This professorship was later retracted from the university.{{Cite web|last=Lund|first=Kristian|title=Så røg Peter Gøtzsches professorat|url=https://sundhedspolitisktidsskrift.dk/meninger/item/sa-rog-peter-gotzsches-professortitel.html|access-date=2021-09-10|website=Sundhedspolitisk Tidsskrift|language=da-dk}} 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 the Institute for Scientific Freedom, whose goal is "to preserve honesty and integrity in science".{{cite journal| url = https://www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.l183| title = Expelled Cochrane director to set up new institute for "integrity in science" {{!}} The BMJ| journal = BMJ| date = 11 January 2019| volume = 364| pages = l183| doi = 10.1136/bmj.l183| last1 = Newman| first1 = Melanie| pmid = 30635327| s2cid = 58584288}}

Among his research findings are that placebo has surprisingly little effect{{Cite journal

| author = Asbjørn Hróbjartsson & Peter C. Gøtzsche

| title = Hvad er effekten af placebobehandling? En systematisk oversigt over randomiserede kliniske forsøg med placebobehandlede og ubehandlede patienter [What is the effect of placebo interventions? A systematic review of randomised trials with placebo treated and untreated patients]

| journal = Ugeskrift for Læger

|date=January 2002

| volume = 164

| issue = 3

| pages = 329–333

| pmid = 11816328

}}{{Cite journal|last1=Hróbjartsson|first1=Asbjørn|last2=Gøtzsche|first2=Peter C.|date=2010-01-20|title=Placebo interventions for all clinical conditions|journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews|volume=2010 |issue=1|pages=CD003974|doi=10.1002/14651858.CD003974.pub3|issn=1469-493X|pmid=20091554|pmc=7156905}}{{Cite journal

| author = A. Hróbjartsson & P. C. Gøtzsche

| title = Is the placebo powerless? Update of a systematic review with 52 new randomized trials comparing placebo with no treatment

| journal = Journal of Internal Medicine

| volume = 256

| issue = 2

| pages = 91–100

|date=August 2004

| doi = 10.1111/j.1365-2796.2004.01355.x

| pmid = 15257721

| s2cid = 21244034

| doi-access = free

}}

and that many meta-analyses may have data extraction errors.{{Cite journal

|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche |author2=Asbjørn Hróbjartsson |author3=Katja Maric |author4=Britta Tendal

| title = Data Extraction Errors in Meta-analyses That Use Standardized Mean Differences

| journal = JAMA

| volume = 298

| issue = 4

| pages = 430–437

|date=July 2007

| doi = 10.1001/jama.298.4.430

| pmid = 17652297

}} There is an error in the article. Comments:

• {{Cite journal

|author=Hugh McGuire |author2=Melissa Edmonds |author3=Jonathan Price

| title = Data Discrepancies in Meta-analyses That Use Standardized Mean Differences

| journal = JAMA

| url = http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/298/19/2261-a

| pmid = 18029827

| doi = 10.1001/jama.298.19.2261-b

| year = 2007

| volume = 298

| issue = 19

| pages = 2261–2; author reply 2262–3

}}

• {{Cite journal

| author = Peter C. Gøtzsche, Britta Tendal

| title = Data Discrepancies in Meta-analyses That Use Standardized Mean Differences—Reply

| journal = JAMA

| volume = 298

| issue = 19

|date=November 2007

| url = http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/298/19/2262

| doi = 10.1001/jama.298.19.2262

| pages = 2262

}}

Gøtzsche and his coauthors have at times criticized the research methods and interpretations of other scientists, e.g. in meta-analysis of placebo.{{Cite journal

| author = Asbjørn Hróbjartssona & Peter C. Gøtzsche

| title = Unsubstantiated claims of large effects of placebo on pain: serious errors in meta-analysis of placebo analgesia mechanism studies

| journal = Journal of Clinical Epidemiology

| volume = 59

| issue = 4

|date=April 2006

| doi = 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2005.05.011

| pages = 336–338

| pmid = 16549252

}}{{Cite journal

| author = Asbjørn Hróbjartsson, Peter C. Gøtzsche

| title = Powerful spin in the conclusion of wampold et al.'s re-analysis of placebo versus no-treatment trials despite similar results as in original review

| journal = Journal of Clinical Psychology

| volume = 63

| issue = 4

| pages = 373–377

| year = 2007

| doi = 10.1002/jclp.20357

| pmid = 17279532

}}

Gøtzsche has commented on meta-analysis,{{Cite journal

| author = Peter C. Gøtzsche

| title = Why we need a broad perspective on meta-analysis

| journal = BMJ

|date=September 2000

| volume = 321

| issue = 7261

| pages = 585–586

| doi = 10.1136/bmj.321.7261.585

| pmid = 10977820

| url= | pmc = 1118486

}}

and the editorial independence of medical journals.{{Cite journal

|author = Peter C. Gøtzsche

|title = Ytringsfrihed og redaktionel uafhængighed: Fire fyringer og en kafkask proces

|journal = Ugeskrift for Læger

|year = 2008

|volume = 170

|issue = 18

|pages = 1537

|url = http://www.ugeskriftet.dk/LF/UFL/2008/18/pdf/VP03080143.pdf

|url-status = dead

|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110807220831/http://www.ugeskriftet.dk/LF/UFL/2008/18/pdf/VP03080143.pdf

|archivedate = 2011-08-07

}}

He has written about issues surrounding medical ghostwriting with the position that it is scientific misconduct.{{Cite journal

|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche |author2=Jerome P. Kassirer |author3=Karen L. Woolley |author4=Elizabeth Wager |author5=Adam Jacobs |author6=Art Gertel |author7=Cindy Hamilton

| title = What Should Be Done To Tackle Ghostwriting in the Medical Literature?

| journal = PLOS Medicine

| volume = 6

| issue = 2

| pages = e1000023

| doi = 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000023

| pmid = 19192943

| year = 2009

| pmc = 2634793

|doi-access=free }} He has also criticized the widespread use of SSRI antidepressants.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/30/psychiatric-drugs-harm-than-good-ssri-antidepressants-benzodiazepines | title=Psychiatric drugs are doing us more harm than good | newspaper=The Guardian | date=30 April 2014 | accessdate=25 November 2014 | author=Gotzsche, Peter}}

Gøtzsche has been critical of screening for breast cancer using mammography, arguing that it cannot be justified; his critique has caused controversy.{{Cite news

| author = Donald G. McNeil, Jr.

| title = CONFRONTING CANCER: SCIENTIST AT WORK -- PETER GOTZSCHE; A Career That Bristles With Against-the-Grain Conclusions

| work = New York Times

| date = 2002-04-09

| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/09/science/confronting-cancer-scientist-work-peter-gotzsche-career-that-bristles-with.html

| author-link = Donald G. McNeil, Jr

}}

His critique stems from a meta-analysis he did on mammography screening studies and published as Is screening for breast cancer with mammography justifiable? in The Lancet in 2000.{{Cite journal

|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche |author2=Ole Olsen

| title = Is screening for breast cancer with mammography justifiable?

| journal = The Lancet

| volume = 355

|issue=9198

| pages = 129–134

|date=January 2000

| doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(99)06065-1

|pmid=10675181

|s2cid=32143570

}}

In it he discarded six out of eight studies, arguing their randomization was inadequate.

In 2006 a paper by Gøtzsche on mammography screening was electronically published in the European Journal of Cancer ahead of print.{{Cite journal

| title = WITHDRAWN: Results of the Two-County trial of mammography screening are not compatible with contemporaneous official Swedish breast cancer statistics

| journal = European Journal of Cancer

|date=March 2006

| doi = 10.1016/j.ejca.2005.12.016

| pmid = 16530407

| last1 = Zahl

| first1 = PH

| last2 = Gøtzsche

| first2 = PC

| last3 = Andersen

| first3 = JM

| last4 = Mæhlen

| first4 = J

}}

The journal later removed the paper completely from the journal website without any formal retraction.{{Cite journal

|author = Kerry Grens

|title = Mammography article withdrawal sparks dispute

|journal = The Scientist

|date = December 2006

|url = http://www.the-scientist.com/templates/trackable/display/news.jsp?type=news&o_url=news/display/38455&id=38455

}} {{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

The paper was later published in Danish Medical Bulletin with a short note from the editor,{{Cite journal |author=Per-Henrik Zahl |author2=Peter C. Gøtzsche |author3=Jannike Mørch Andersen |author4=Jan Mæhlen |title=Results of the Two-County trial of mammography screening are not compatible with contemporaneous official Swedish breast cancer statistics |journal=Danish Medical Bulletin |date=November 2006 |volume=53 |pages=438–440 |url=http://www.danmedbul.dk/Dmb_2006/0406/0406-artikler/DMB3890.htm |doi=10.1016/j.ejca.2005.12.016 |pmid=16530407 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621235925/http://www.danmedbul.dk/Dmb_2006/0406/0406-artikler/DMB3890.htm |archivedate=June 21, 2007 }}

and Gøtzsche and his coauthors commented on the unilateral retraction that the authors were not involved in.{{Cite journal

|author=Peter C Gøtzsche |author2=Jan Mæhlen |author3=Per-Henrik Zahl

| title = What is a publication?

| journal = The Lancet

| volume = 368

| issue = 9550

|date=November–December 2006

| pages = 1854–1856

| doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69756-0

|pmid=17126704 |s2cid=54366146 }}

In 2012 his book Mammography Screening: Truth, Lies and Controversy was published.{{cite book|last=Gøtzsche|first=Peter C|title=Mammography Screening: Truth, Lies and Controversy|year=2012|publisher=Radcliffe Publishing Ltd|location=Milton Keynes|isbn=978-1-84619-585-3|pages=400|url=http://radcliffe-oxford.com/books/bookdetail.aspx?ISBN=1846195853|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527182222/http://www.radcliffe-oxford.com/books/bookdetail.aspx?ISBN=1846195853|archivedate=2012-05-27}} In 2013 his book Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Healthcare was published.{{cite book|last=Gotzsche|first=Peter|title=Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Healthcare|year=2013|publisher=Radcliffe|isbn=9781846198847}}

At the behest of the Danish Health and Medicines Authorities the European Medicines Agency (EMA) was charged to review data in women concerning use of HPV vaccines and the possible development of rare side effects, namely complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). EMA's review was issued in November 2015 and found no causal relationship.[http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/referrals/Human_papillomavirus_vaccines/human_referral_prac_000053.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac05805c516f HPV vaccines: EMA confirms evidence does not support that they cause CRPS or POTS], 5. November 2015[http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Referrals_document/HPV_vaccines_20/Opinion_provided_by_Committee_for_Medicinal_Products_for_Human_Use/WC500196773.pdf HPV vaccines: EMA confirms evidence does not support that they cause CRPS or POTS.] (PDF; 94 kB) 20. November 2015 Louise Brinth, a Danish physician who had published observational studies on POTS, subsequently critiqued the EMA review in a detailed rebuttal.Louise Brinth: Responsum to Assessment Report on HPV-vaccines released by EMA November 26th 2015., [http://www.ft.dk/samling/20151/almdel/suu/bilag/109/1581470.pdf online] (PDF; 1,3 MB) Gøtzsche supported her and issued a formal complaint to the EMA criticizing their report in May 2018.Nordic Cochrane Center: [http://nordic.cochrane.org/sites/nordic.cochrane.org/files/uploads/ResearchHighlights/Complaint-to-EMA-over-EMA.pdf Complaint to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) over maladministration at the EMA] (PDF) , vom 26. Mai 2016.

Gøtzsche et al. also found faults with a 2018 Cochrane review of the HPV vaccine.Jørgensen L, Gøtzsche PC, Jefferson T.: The Cochrane HPV vaccine review was incomplete and ignored important evidence of bias. BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine 2018; 23, S. 165-168, DOI:10.1136/bmjebm-2018-111012 The review had judged the vaccine as effective and did not find an increased risk of serious adverse effects.Arbyn M, Xu L, Simoens C, Martin-Hirsch PPL: Prophylactic vaccination against human papillomaviruses to prevent cervical cancer and its precursors. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2018, Issue 5. Art. No.: CD009069. DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD009069.pub3.

Gøtzsche, who had been elected to the Governing Board in 2017,{{cite web |url=https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/health-healing/a-letter-from-peter-c-g-tzsche/ |author=Peter Gøtzsche |title=A letter from Peter C Gøtzsche (this is an open letter initially published by Nordic Cochrane) |publisher=Nexusnewsfeed |date=September 17, 2018 |accessdate=November 11, 2018}} 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."{{cite journal |url=https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2018/11/08/peter-c-gotzsche-cochrane-no-longer-a-collaboration/ |author=Peter C. Gøtzsche |title=Peter C Gøtzsche: Cochrane—no longer a Collaboration |journal=The British Medical Journal| date=November 8, 2018| accessdate=November 21, 2018}} 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.{{cite journal |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/evidence-based-medicine-group-turmoil-after-expulsion-co-founder | author=Martin Enserink |title=Evidence-based medicine group in turmoil after expulsion of co-founder |journal=Science |doi=10.1126/science.aav4490 |date=September 16, 2018 | s2cid=81578757 |accessdate=November 5, 2018}}

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.{{cite web | url= https://www.cochrane.de/de/cochrane-media-explanation-contradictions-and-conflicts | author= Gerd Antes | title= Cochrane in the media: Explanation of contradictions and conflicts | publisher= Cochrane Deutschland | date= September 25, 2018 | accessdate= November 11, 2018 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190421195505/https://www.cochrane.de/de/cochrane-media-explanation-contradictions-and-conflicts | archive-date= April 21, 2019 | url-status= dead }}

• {{Cite book|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche |author2=Henrik R. Wulff |title=Rational Diagnosis and Treatment: Evidence-based Clinical Decision-making|edition=4th|publisher=John Wiley & Sons |date=2007|isbn=9780470723685}}
• {{Cite book|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche|title=Mammography Screening: Truth, Lies and Controversy|publisher=Radcliffe Publishing|date=2012|isbn=9781846195853}}
• {{Cite book|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche|title=Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Healthcare|publisher=Taylor & Francis|date=2013|isbn=9781846198847|title-link=Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime: How Big Pharma Has Corrupted Healthcare }}
• {{Cite book|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche|title=Deadly Psychiatry and Organised Denial|publisher=People's Press|date=2015|isbn=978-87-7159-623-6}}
• {{Cite book|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche|title=Death of a whistleblower and Cochrane's moral collapse|publisher=People's Press|date=2019|asin=B07N927GXC}}
• {{Cite book|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche|title=Survival in an Overmedicated World: Look Up the Evidence Yourself |publisher=People's Press|date=2019|asin=B07R5TPV9C}}
• {{Cite book|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche|title=Vaccines: Truth, Lies and Controversy |publisher=People's Press|date=2020|asin=B0848FPKNP}}
• {{Cite book|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche|title=Mental Health Survival Kit and Withdrawal from Psychiatric Drugs |publisher=People's Press|date=2020|asin=B08HM7QGFZ}}

• {{cite report|author=Peter C. Gøtzsche|title=Corporate crime in the pharmaceutical industry is common, serious and repetitive|publisher=Nordic Cochrane Centre |date=14 Dec 2012 |url=http://www.cochrane.dk/research/corporatecrime/Corporate-crime-long-version.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124031943/http://www.cochrane.dk/research/corporatecrime/Corporate-crime-long-version.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 January 2013|accessdate=2014-06-04}}
• Short version of the above: {{cite journal|last1=Gotzsche|first1=P. C.|title=Big pharma often commits corporate crime, and this must be stopped|journal=BMJ|volume=345|issue=dec14 3|pages=e8462|year=2012|pmid=23241451|doi=10.1136/bmj.e8462|s2cid=29898648}}

== See also ==

• Bad Pharma – book
• Ben Goldacre
• David Healy (psychiatrist)
• Irving Kirsch
• John Ioannidis
• Nancy Olivieri

{{Reflist|32em}}

• [https://www.scientificfreedom.dk/ Institute for Scientific Freedom] official
• [http://www.deadlymedicines.dk/ Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime] official
• [https://brokenmedics.com/ Broken Medical Science] videoblog, official
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190803121906/https://petergotzsche.com/ Peter C. Gøtzsche] official

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotzsche, Peter C.}}

Category:Danish medical researchers

Category:Living people

Category:1949 births

Category:Physicians from Copenhagen

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:Anti-psychiatry

Category:Placebo researchers

Category:Cochrane Collaboration people