Do statisticians count? A personal view

The number of statisticians working in the pharmaceutical industry has risen 50‐fold since the formation of PSI in 1977. It would be comforting to think that the influence of statisticians within their companies has increased in a parallel fashion, however I do not believe that to be the case. In this paper I look at barriers which prevent statisticians contributing as much as they should and look at potentials solutions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.