No more free lunches: It is time we all grew up

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7410.341

BMJ 2003;327:341 (9 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7410.341

Letter

No more free lunches

It is time we all grew up

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The dispiriting BMJ of 31 May uses acres of newsprintto state the obvious that pharmaceutical companies manufacture drugs and promote them to prescribers, who sometimes succumbto the blandishments.¹

I have received 53 research grants from 20 sources: researchcouncils, government departments, and medical charities, withone from a pharmaceutical company. I have dealt with industryat many levels, as well as with people from various institutionsthat support research. All institutions have agendas and specialinterests, and they are as aware as anyone else of their remit. Many of their agendas are as powerful as or more powerful thanthose of industry.

Have industry blandishments perverted my clinical practice?A meticulous search of my desk reveals nine pens, two of whichhave clear company logos on them. As an academic I attend academicmeetings, usually overseas, at least once a month. I am certainthat on . . . [Full text of this article]

Simon Wessely, professor of epidemiology and liaison psychiatry

Guy's, King's, and St Thomas's Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Biomedical Sciences, London SE1 8WA s.wessely@iop.kcl.ac.uk

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