This essay considers the ways in which Merck, a major pharmaceutical company, trained salespeople... more This essay considers the ways in which Merck, a major pharmaceutical company, trained salespeople to communicate with physicians about its controversial pain drug, Vioxx. Between 2000 and 2004, approximately 60,000 people died while taking the drug. In this study, we analyzed 989 pages of internal training materials that show how Merck taught employees to communicate with physicians. Inspired by Craig and Tracy, we reconstruct the (1) guiding philosophies, (2) assumed problems, and (3) skills and techniques inherent in Merck's practical theory of communication. Using Nilsen's perspective on ethics, we argue that Merck taught a communication approach that obscured physicians' ability to make a significant choice and unnecessarily put more patients' lives at risk. The essay underscores the need to make communication ethics a primary rather than a secondary research concern.
In this study, I investigated naturally occurring medical interaction in commercial medicine. Dra... more In this study, I investigated naturally occurring medical interaction in commercial medicine. Drawing on 30+ hours of videotaped data and 9 months of fieldwork in a cosmetic surgery clinic, this analysis focuses on how plastic surgeons interact with patients who seek to alter their bodily appearance. The ethnographically informed discourse analysis reveals how plastic surgeons manage multiple and competing interactive demands. Specifically, I describe plastic surgeons’ key strategies for meeting both health-related and institutional goals. In the conclusion, I reflect on the communication challenges that medical professionals and patients face when consumerism and medicine meet.
The United Nation (UN) lists ending poverty in all its forms as the number one prerogative among ... more The United Nation (UN) lists ending poverty in all its forms as the number one prerogative among seventeen sustainable development goals. One organization that is seeking to make an impact on those who live in poverty is Heifer International, a global nonprofit organization based in the United States, whose mission is “to end world hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth.” By using Values-Based Holistic Community Development, Heifer has helped to lift millions of people out of poverty. In this article, we present the results of a study we conducted in Bihar, India to assess the impact of Heifer International programming on participants’ communication competency. Grounded in over 100 interviews with women across four time periods, the results show that women who have partnered with Heifer International experience significant qualitative changes in communication competency across five areas: expressiveness, assertiveness, persuasiveness, openness, and positiveness. We discuss th...
This essay considers the ways in which Merck, a major pharmaceutical company, trained salespeople... more This essay considers the ways in which Merck, a major pharmaceutical company, trained salespeople to communicate with physicians about its controversial pain drug, Vioxx. Between 2000 and 2004, approximately 60,000 people died while taking the drug. In this study, we analyzed 989 pages of internal training materials that show how Merck taught employees to communicate with physicians. Inspired by Craig and Tracy, we reconstruct the (1) guiding philosophies, (2) assumed problems, and (3) skills and techniques inherent in Merck's practical theory of communication. Using Nilsen's perspective on ethics, we argue that Merck taught a communication approach that obscured physicians' ability to make a significant choice and unnecessarily put more patients' lives at risk. The essay underscores the need to make communication ethics a primary rather than a secondary research concern.
In this study, I investigated naturally occurring medical interaction in commercial medicine. Dra... more In this study, I investigated naturally occurring medical interaction in commercial medicine. Drawing on 30+ hours of videotaped data and 9 months of fieldwork in a cosmetic surgery clinic, this analysis focuses on how plastic surgeons interact with patients who seek to alter their bodily appearance. The ethnographically informed discourse analysis reveals how plastic surgeons manage multiple and competing interactive demands. Specifically, I describe plastic surgeons’ key strategies for meeting both health-related and institutional goals. In the conclusion, I reflect on the communication challenges that medical professionals and patients face when consumerism and medicine meet.
The United Nation (UN) lists ending poverty in all its forms as the number one prerogative among ... more The United Nation (UN) lists ending poverty in all its forms as the number one prerogative among seventeen sustainable development goals. One organization that is seeking to make an impact on those who live in poverty is Heifer International, a global nonprofit organization based in the United States, whose mission is “to end world hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth.” By using Values-Based Holistic Community Development, Heifer has helped to lift millions of people out of poverty. In this article, we present the results of a study we conducted in Bihar, India to assess the impact of Heifer International programming on participants’ communication competency. Grounded in over 100 interviews with women across four time periods, the results show that women who have partnered with Heifer International experience significant qualitative changes in communication competency across five areas: expressiveness, assertiveness, persuasiveness, openness, and positiveness. We discuss th...
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Papers by Julien Mirivel