An important piece in The BMJ has received very little news media attention so far, so we thought it was important to point it out here.
Two endocrinologists wrote an Analysis piece, “Web of industry, advocacy and academia in the management of osteoporosis.”
In a nutshell, they write that:
Their concluding paragraph:
“Improving transparency of the interactions between industry, academia, and advocacy organisations is desirable but reducing those interactions is more so. The emerging requirements that drug companies declare payments to health practitioners should be broadened to include supplements and food manufacturers. Advocacy organisations and specialist societies should eschew corporate sponsorship, and academics should not engage with advocacy organisations until it is clear that such commercial ties have been severed.”
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Meantime, The BMJ reports that a 1994 editorial by Doug Altman, “The scandal of poor medical research,” was voted the top paper published by the journal in a poll taken as part of the journal’s 20th online anniversary celebrations.
Altman wrote:
“What should we think about researchers who use the wrong techniques, use the right techniques wrongly, misinterpret their results, report their results selectively, cite the literature selectively, and draw unjustified conclusions? We should be appalled. Yet numerous studies have shown that all of the above phenomena are common. This is surely a scandal.” He called for “less research, better research, and research done for the right reasons.”
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Monday at #ADA2021, an infectious disease epidemiologist, a journalist, and a researcher shared perspectives on communication of risk in the era of COVID-19: http://ow.ly/ROfR30rMeE7 @AstleyCM @garyschwitzer @berthahidalgo @ADA_DiabetesPro
Shoutouts to @susan_bewley @drkevinknopf @MichaelBaum11 in this call for more than fawning coverage from press releases for these kinds of stories.
Also, linked history inside goes back 5 years just on Grail apparently trying to become Holy Grail. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1408849696416841731
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