James Murdoch and GlaxoSmithKline

James Murdoch joined the GSK board in 2009, with the Chairman delighted by his record in corporate responsibility, but anti-vaccine groups are less impressed

Many thanks to @pharmagossip, who reminded me this evening that James Murdoch is currently a non-executive director at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. A quick Google led me to this brilliant quote from the Guardian article reporting his appoinment in 2009.

Chairman Sir Christopher Gent said at the time that he was "delighted to welcome James to the board of GSK," and noted:

He will also be an excellent addition to the board's corporate responsibility committee, an area where he has shown particular leadership at BSkyB and News Corporation.

Hmm.

As the PharmaGossip blog notes:

James was re-elected to the Glaxo board in May with 97 per cert of the votes cast, but much has emerged about News Corp and its subsidiaries since.

I wonder how that vote would swing today?

GSK make the MMR vaccine, and so with tedious inevitability the anti-vaccine brigade have leapt onto this as yet more proof of the establishment campaign against their hero, the disgraced Andrew Wakefield. Age of Autism crank the conspiracy dial to eleven with...

Within a fortnight of [James Murdoch's] appointment [in 2009] News International had published at least 5 articles attacking MMR researcher Andrew Wakefield's integrity

...but then note that...

The Sunday Times campaign against Wakefield began in 2003.

Right. So it turns out we can add precognition to James Murdoch's list of achievements

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-lay-scientist/2011/jul/18/1

http://themurdochempireanditsnestofvipers.blogspot.com/2012/03/leveson-inquiry-murdoch-and-vacciness.html

James Murdoch is still supported by GlaxoSmithKline http://www.ageofautism.com/2011/07/james-murdoch-is-still-supported-by-glaxosmithkline.html

Dr.Wakefield sues for defamation

http://www.naturalnews.com/034629_Andrew_Wakefield_BMJ_Brian_Deer.html

Dr.Wakefield demands retraction

http://www.naturalnews.com/031117_BMJ_Dr_Andrew_Wakefield.html

POWERFUL Interview with Dr.Wakefield

http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=608256A446123276E4E72A5351322186

Matthew Freud of Freud Communications (Murdoch's son in law ) now on board NHS

http://therighttodieathomewiththoseilove.blogspot.com/2012/01/camerons-pal-matthew-freud.html