There’s a new article in the Outsourcing-Pharma website that is pretty interesting. Most organizations in the industry are not ready for a full-blown media circus, the publication says.

The story extensively quotes a public relations professional who advises anyone listening ... not to use a public relations professional. Aafke Huininga of Burson-Marsteller was a speaker at the recent Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) conference in Brussels.

Her advice is paradoxical but sensible. It’s striking that despite so many PhD’s and M.D.s and M.D.-PhD’s working in the industry, they’re quoted in news reports infrequently. An ordinary person might have no idea that some drug companies hire honorable physicians and scientists to help find and test safe and effective medicines.

Here’s a quote from the story:

“If a crisis does occur, firms should immediately isolate the crisis team from daily concerns so that they can define the real problem—in both the short and long term—and assume a ‘worst case scenario’ planning position. It is then important to centralize and control the information flow coming in and out of the firm, while still understanding the demand for information from external audiences such as the media. ‘Always be nice to people, if you can’t answer questions on the spot, write them down and be sure to get back to them as soon as possible with a follow up,’ said Huininga.”

Another factor, unmentioned in the story, is that there is no foundation for a crisis that was forged during times of noncrisis. In other subjects covered by the media, ordinary interactions establish some minimal level of comfort and trust. But most U.S. science reporters have given up on getting good interviews or facts from the pharmaceutical industry and reflexively turn to academics instead.