BMJ  2006;332:1109 (13 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7550.1109-a

News

Department of Health ends contract with drugs bulletin

London

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

The Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, a journal that has provided doctors across England with advice about medical treatments for over 40 years, has had its funding stopped by the Department of Health in the latest round of cost cutting in the NHS.

The last minute decision, which came only two hours before the bulletin's previous contract ended in March, leaves the publication's future uncertain and threatens to increase yet further the influence of the drug industry in doctors' prescribing, said its editor, Ike Iheanacho.

"In April last year the [parliamentary] health select committee pointed to us as an invaluable source of independent advice. So it seems strange that they have done this. The fear is that now doctors will be reliant on pharmaceutical promotion," Dr Iheanacho said.

"We have an unrivalled reputation for looking critically at the information on offer and giving doctors practical guidance, and many have told . . . [Full text of this article]

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