Looks like it's true: Michael Moore is sniffing around drugs this time. From an article in The Detroit news:
- Despite the improvement, pharmaceutical executives are bracing for the worst.
"Moore's past work has been marked by negativity, so we can only assume it won't be a fair and balanced portrayal," said Rachel Bloom, executive director of corporate communications for the Wilmington, Del.-based AstraZeneca. "His movies resemble docudramas more than documentaries."
Rumors already are flying within the industry about Moore's moviemaking tactics. Moore, it is said, has hired actors to portray pharmaceutical salesmen who offer gifts to doctors who promote their products. There's also word that he's offered physicians $50,000 apiece to install secret cameras in their offices in an effort to document alleged corruption.
In September, employees said that Moore was shoving a microphone at people at GlaxoSmithKline, Bloom notes, even though he was in town only for a radio appearance.
"We have six business centers nationwide, all of which report `sightings,' " Bloom said. "Michael Moore is becoming an urban legend."
As for The Scruffy One: "Reached at his home in Michigan, the director declined to say whether he's hired actors to portray pharmaceutical salesmen and denied paying doctors to help him install secret cameras. ('I didn't need to. So many doctors have offered to help, for free, in an effort to expose the system.')"
Update: Rich Charbonneau at ThingsPharma reports that an investigator event he went to during the American Heart Association's annual meeting in New Orleans in November included an invasion by Michael Moore and his camera crew. This should be interesting, eh?
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