AstraZeneca's "Smoke and Mirrors" Man Has New Job in Medical Writing

(MoneyWatch)  Whatever happened to AstraZeneca's "smoke and mirrors" man, Richard Lawrence? You remember him. He was the one who, in 1997, wrote a memo about Seroquel that praised the company's efforts to put a "positive spin" on "this cursed study," and added:

I am not 100% comfortable with this data being made publically available at the present time -- however I understand we have little choice -- Lisa has done a great 'smoke-and-mirrors' job!

It later emerged that among Seroquel's side effects were weight gain and diabetes.

Turns out Lawrence is still in the writing business. He's now the president of Gardiner-Caldwell Communications. Among GGC's services are "Medical Writing and Strategy," including:

Proven excellence in writing items ranging from sales aids to manuscripts and from Web sites to monographs for the many different healthcare professional and patient audiences.

Good luck to him in his new career.

Separately, there's an in-depth piece on how AstraZeneca promoted Seroquel in the St. Pete Times today.

• BNET's previous coverage of AZ and Seroquel:
• AZ Seroquel Trial: Was It "Ghostwriting" or "Professional" Writing?
• AstraZeneca's Seroquel Research Director Confessed to Sex-for-Studies Affairs
• E-Mail: AstraZeneca Knew in 1997 that Seroquel Caused Weight Gain
• Exec Warned AZ on Negative Seroquel Results: "We Cannot Hide Them"; Info Later "Buried"
• AstraZeneca's Sex-for-Studies Seroquel Scandal: Did Research Chief Bias the Science?
• Seroquel Trial: Allegations of Sex-for-Secrets; AZ Wants Papers Sealed
• FDA Asks AZ to Tighten Seroquel Label; 9,000 Lawsuits Start Trials Next Week
• The History of AstraZeneca's Mismarketing of Seroquel
• FDA: J&J's Risperdal and Lilly's Zyprexa Are Over-Used in Kids
• AstraZeneca Allegedly Recruits Tigger and Eeyore to Sell Seroquel