Let us protest loudly

doi:10.1136/bmj.b397

Published 2 February 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b397
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b397

Letters

Into the therapeutics void

Let us protest loudly

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

We are concerned about any outsourcing of medical educationto pharmaceutical companies.¹ Common sense tells us this couldonly be harmful, and a growing literature suggests contact betweenhealthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies leads to irrationalprescribing² ³ and to the provision of biased or inaccurateinformation, with inaccuracies favouring the products of thecompany.⁴ ⁵

If we know that most doctors fail to spot misinformation providedby pharmaceutical company employees,⁴ ⁵ can we expect medicalstudents to fare any better?

Recognising this, US medical schools have commendably startedto limit contact between medical students and pharmaceuticalcompanies (www.amsascorecard.org). If budgets do not allow theprovision of comprehensive teaching in pharmacology to medicalstudents given by independent academics and clinicians thenlet us protest loudly rather than resorting to unacceptablealternatives.

Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b397

Tom Yates, final year medical student¹, Gordon Stewart, professor of experimental medicine¹, John S Yudkin, emeritus professor of medicine¹, John Yates, emeritus professor of medical genetics², Alexander Macara, chairman of council, 1993-8³