Full Measure After Hours

Episode: A New Medical Journal Not Captured by Big Pharma
Host: Sharyl Attkisson
Guest: Dr. Joseph Varon, President of the Independent Medical Alliance
Date: February 12, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode investigates the growing concerns over the credibility of mainstream medical journals, focusing on how financial interests—especially from pharmaceutical companies—may taint the integrity of published research. Sharyl Attkisson interviews Dr. Joseph Varon, a critical care specialist and founder of the newly launched Journal of Independent Medicine, an open-access medical journal positioned as a solution to industry-wide bias. Dr. Varon shares first-hand insights into the systemic problems, the vision behind his independent journal, and the challenges faced when pushing for unbiased, transparent science.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Problem: Erosion of Trust in Prestigious Medical Journals

• Historical trust, recent doubts: For decades, journals like the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet have been considered the gold standard in scientific research. However, both Attkisson and Dr. Varon highlight a disturbing trend of unreliable or slanted research appearing in respected publications ([00:04]–[03:44]).

• Internal confirmation: Attkisson references interviews with Dr. Marcia Angell (former editor of NEJM) and Dr. Richard Horton (The Lancet) confirming that science in these journals has taken a “turn toward darkness” due to conflicts of interest.

  “Many doctors who rely on the information in these journals don't know the shocking truth. Much of the information in these journals is slanted or even untrue.”
  —Sharyl Attkisson, [00:36]

2. Big Pharma’s Influence on Medical Publishing

• Financial dependency: Dr. Varon explains that major journals are “taken hostage by big pharma,” with over 50% of income sometimes coming from industry sources, leading to a significant loss of credibility ([03:44]).

• Conflicted studies: He provides a striking example of a vaccine study in NEJM where 90% of authors were employed by the vaccine’s manufacturer, a situation he labels an “obvious conflict of interest” ([03:44]).

  “These journals have been taken hostage by big pharma... If you're getting revenue from [industry sponsors], you're not going to say, I'm not going to accept you because you're going to shut down.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [03:44]

• Suppressed independent studies: He laments that many independent studies fail to get published because they do not serve the journals’ financial interests ([05:02]).

3. The Genesis of the Journal of Independent Medicine

• Origins & motivation: Dr. Varon recounts forming the FLCCC (Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance), which evolved into the Independent Medical Alliance, after repeated rejections of their data by mainstream journals with pharmaceutical ties ([05:40]).

• Core principles:

  • Absolute independence from industry funding—all support is via the alliance and donations.
  • Transparent, double-blind peer review: reviewers and authors are anonymized to minimize personal bias.
  • Emphasis on open data access and openness to repurposed, inexpensive medications and opinion pieces ([05:40]–[08:39]).

  “We needed a journal... that would allow independent practitioners, independent key opinion leaders, to write papers that were clean, bias-free.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [05:40]

  “We don't take any funding from Big Pharma, which is a big, big thing.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [06:45]

  “I'm interested in people that have good science… If the science is good, if they're transparent, if I can go into their data...”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [07:07]

4. Submissions and Reach of the New Journal

• Global interest: Submissions are coming from all over the world; Dr. Varon cites a recent paper on end-of-life care in Iraq ([08:46]).

• Publishing excluded research: The journal features work that would likely be suppressed elsewhere, such as alternative cancer treatment studies by Dr. Paul Marik and Dr. Justice Hope ([09:29]).

  “It’s good data, is scientifically sound. Again, it went through a full peer review and we got it in and it's one of the most downloaded papers that we have.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [09:29]

5. Pushback and Industry Resistance

• Skepticism and criticism: Dr. Varon has faced significant resistance from editors and journalists dismissing the journal’s credibility and predicting it won’t succeed or be indexed ([10:12]).

• **Accusations of bias about certain subjects (e.g., Ivermectin), but Varon defends their narrative review approach to such topics ([10:16]).

• Critique of statistical manipulation: He highlights the prevalence of "junk articles" in major journals due to the ability to “twist the data so that it looks exactly how you want it.”

• Upcoming focus: The journal will publish guidance on spotting misleading statistics to help physicians critically evaluate research ([10:16]–[11:41]).

  “You can pretty much twist the data so that it looks exactly how you want it, and that's what they're publishing.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [10:57]

  “We're not pushing the narrative one way or the other. We're just wanting to put in good science.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [10:32]

6. Accessing the Journal

• Open access: The Journal of Independent Medicine is currently free; visitors simply provide an email to register ([11:47]).
• Online portals:
  • journalofindependentmedicine.org
  • imahealth.org (link available to the journal)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Science has taken a turn toward darkness, that many of the published studies in these prestigious journals are not to be believed because of conflicts of interest.”
  —Sharyl Attkisson, [03:14]

• “We were even sending our papers of good data. They were getting rejected because we did not have a big pharmaceutical backup behind us.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [05:48]

• “If the science is good, if they're transparent, if I can go into their data… then those are papers that I'm extremely interested in.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [07:07]

• “My primary thing is find good researchers that are interested in publishing the data.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [08:59]

• “I've had several people that do advanced statistics... and they say, how did this go through?... So, for example, one of the papers...coming out, it's a narrative review teaching doctors how to identify those twists in statistics.”
  —Dr. Joseph Varon, [10:57]–[11:38]

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:04–02:53: Introduction, context about problems in mainstream journals, and Dr. Varon’s expertise.
• 03:14: Confirmation from former journal editors about the decline in research integrity.
• 03:44: Dr. Varon on Big Pharma’s influence and conflicts of interest.
• 05:02: Suppression of independent science.
• 05:40: Birth and mission of the Journal of Independent Medicine; double-blind review and independence from industry funding.
• 08:46: Global submission reach and example of impactful, otherwise-excluded research.
• 09:29: Publishing alternative cancer treatment research.
• 10:12: Pushback from the journal industry.
• 10:57: Critique of statistical manipulation; upcoming educational pieces.
• 11:47: How to access the journal.

Conclusion & Further Exploration

Sharyl Attkisson wraps up by directing listeners to her forthcoming TV cover story on this topic and encouraging independent, critical thinking ([12:17]). She promotes further resources for viewers seeking to understand Big Pharma’s influence on medicine.

For more information:

• Visit journalofindependentmedicine.org or imahealth.org
• Upcoming broader coverage on Full Measure TV (see FullMeasure.News)