Understanding “Ghost-Management”: Investigating Corporate Strategies to Shape and Control Knowledge, Beliefs and Practices to the Detriment of Public Health

In different industrial sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, tobacco, oil and gas or agro-chemicals, ghost-management strategies seem to have become a new normal taken directly from playbooks fostered by corporate lobbies and consulting, public relations, or communications companies. Because of ghost-management activities, health care policy, especially when it came to health products or toxicology, has long been vulnerable to corporate strategies. The politicization of health care policy in a post-truth context seems to amplify these vulnerabilities to a whole new level.

We hosted a panel at the 6th International Conference on Public Policy to discuss this matter further. We brought together people from different disciplines to talk about how to study and identify ghost-management strategies, so as to develop policy tools to counter these corporate dynamics detrimental to public health.

The main research questions for the panel were:

  1. What practical tools can be used to investigate behind-the-scenes corporate—including consulting and communication company—strategies to maximize profits to the detriment of public health?
  2. What conceptual and methodological tools can better explore how businesses influence knowledge, ignorance, and professional practices, turning them into profitable assets?
  3. How can the answers to the above questions better inform the development of policy to safeguard public interests?

Legal Reforms Required to Protect Public Health and Ensure Disclosure of Ghost Management in Science and Medicine – Paul Thacker (Freelance Journalist)

Investigating How Platform Companies Influence Public Policies – Blue Miaoran Dong (Carleton University)

The Science of Influence: Roche’s Scientific Networks of Influence over Regulations and Technology – Cecilia Rikap (City, University of London) and Marc-Andre Gagnon (Carleton University)

Diet Pills and Disinformation: Lessons Learned from Legislative Efforts to Ban the Sale of Harmful Weight-Loss and Muscle-Building Supplements to Minors – Amanda Raffoul (Boston Children’s Hospital) and S. Bryn Austin (Harvard School of Public Health, USA)

Exploring What the Scientific Literature Learned from Internal Company Documents in the Chemical Industry: A Scoping Review – Blue Miaoran Dong (Carleton University) and Marc-Andre Gagnon (Carleton University)

The Requirements and Challenges of Researching the Agrochemical Industry’s Ghost-Management Strategies in Canada –  Marie-Hélène Bacon (Université du Québec à Montréal) and Louise Vandelac (Université du Québec à Montréal)

Influence(s) in the Belgian Biopharmaceutical State – Lucas Bechoux (University of Liège)

Epistemic Corruption, the Pharmaceutical Industry, and Key Opinion Leaders – Sergio Sismondo (Queen’s University, Canada)

Outsourcing Education: The Impacts of Industry Involvement in Practice-Based Education for Clinical Expertise – Quinn Grundy (University of Toronto), Dana Hart (University of Toronto), and Fiona Miller (University of Toronto)

Investigating and Mapping Ghost Management at Work – Catherine Riva (Re-Check, Investigating and Mapping Health Affairs) Serena Tinari (Re-Check, Investigating and Mapping Health Affairs)

Toxic Ignorance: Studying of Ghost-Management through the Lens of Risk Assessment Procedures and Knowledge – Emmanuel Henry (Université Paris-Dauphine (Paris IX)) Henri Boullier (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS))

Share: Twitter, Facebook
Short URL: https://carleton.ca/ghostmanagement/?p=366