Alan Cassels, CD, MPA
University of Victoria
Drug Policy, Ethics and Marketing
Alan Cassels is a drug policy researcher affiliated with the Faculty of Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria.
He has worked on a variety of research and evaluation studies for the past sixteen years focusing on the impact of provincial drug benefit policies on consumers and has specialized in examining how clinical research information on drugs gets communicated to policy-makers, prescribers and consumers.
Alan led the first ever evaluation of Canadian newspaper coverage of new drugs (published in April 2003 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal) and he has frequently reported on consumer issues relating to pharmaceuticals for magazines, newspapers and the CBC Radio program IDEAS.
He is co-author, with Australian journalist Ray Moynihan of the book, Selling Sickness, (Greystone books, 2005) about the role of the pharmaceutical industry in helping to create and market illness. He is a frequent lecturer and media commentator on current pharmaceutical policy issues in Canada and is the founder of Media Doctor Canada, a website devoted to improving medical reporting in Canada.
Twitter: @AKECassels
Download a new hi-res photo of Dr. Alan Cassels
Commentaries by Alan Cassels:
Toxic information
Why we need more ‘real world’ research on pharmaceutical drug safety
Caution this ‘Movember’ // La prudence de mise en ce mois de Movember
Designer drugs: You’re really paying for the name // Des médicaments hors de prix
Diabetes: Profits before evidence // Sauver notre système de santé, c’est mettre en évidence les faits
Do we really want to trust more of our health to the private sector?
Gene guilt by association // Les tests de dépistage génétique personnalisés moins éclairants que ce qu’on nous promet
How to save $690 and prevent unnecessary worry // Comment économiser 690 $ et s’éviter des inquiétudes inutiles
Mammography and the overdiagnosis of breast cancer
Medical screening has over-promised and under-delivered // Le dépistage médical : une réputation surfaite, des résultats mitigés
Movember moustache? By all means
Screening kids for high cholesterol – why stop there? // Dépister l’hypercholestérolémie chez les enfants : pourquoi s’arrêter là?
Some ideas can be bad for your health // Ne blâmons pas les baby-boomers
