Peter Christian Gøtzsche (born 26 November 1949) is a Danish physician, medical researcher, and former leader of the Nordic Cochrane Center at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark.
[21] The paper was later published in Danish Medical Bulletin with a short note from the editor,[22] and Gøtzsche and his coauthors commented on the unilateral retraction that the authors were not involved in.
[25] At the behest of the Danish Health and Medicines Authorities the European Medicines Agency (EMA) was charged to review data in women concerning use of HPV vaccines and the possible development of rare side effects, namely complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
[26][27] Louise Brinth, a Danish physician who had published observational studies on POTS, subsequently critiqued the EMA review in a detailed rebuttal.
[33] The Board announced the step on September 26 expelling Gøtzsche because of an "ongoing, consistent pattern of disruptive and inappropriate behaviours ..., taking place over a number of years, which undermined this culture and were detrimental to the charity’s work, reputation and members.
"[2] Gøtzsche, critical of the pharmaceutical industry and what he sees as its influence on medicine, expressed concern about "growing top-down authoritarian culture and an increasingly commercial business model" at Cochrane that "threaten the scientific, moral and social objectives of the organization.
"[32] He stated that "Cochrane no longer lives up to its core values of collaboration, openness, transparency, accountability, democracy and keeping the drug industry at arm’s length.
[33] Gerd Antes of Cochrane Deutschland interpreted the situation as a "governance crisis" and called for "the strict orientation on the objectives and fundamental principles of Cochrane" naming "(s)cientific rigour, knowledge with minimal bias, maximum trust and consistent safeguarding against interest-driven influence on the evidence" as primary.