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REVIEWS: Terry Hamblin The Secret Life of Dr Chandra BMJ 2006; 332: 369 [Full text]

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Whistleblower's plumage

Michael H Austen   (20 February 2006)

Whistleblower's plumage 20 February 2006
Michael H Austen, Medical Adviser Accident Compensation Corporation, Dunedin, New Zealand, 9001 Send response to journal: Re: Whistleblower's plumage	In New Zealand, an employee who discloses serious wrongdoing within an organisation is protected from civil and criminal liability and personal grievance procedures as well as maintaining their confidential identity as long as their disclosure is founded upon reasonable grounds that such a disclosure has been committed. Whistleblowers have not, in this opinion, enjoyed certainty of employment and access to promotion if they choose to remain within their respective organisations or career paths, even if their disclosure is found to be substantiated. If I am correct in this presumption it is not surprising that a whistleblower is a rare bird. Your article on Dr Chandra illustrates him as a wealthy man with a patented multivitamin mixture and 200 publications still to his name. Your subscribers would be equally as interested to know whether Marilyn Harvey’s life has similarly retained its rewards. Competing interests: None declared