England’s chief medical officer asks for review of drug evaluation in wake of statins controversy

The Academy of Medical Sciences, the independent body that represents UK medical science, will carry out a review of the way evidence on drugs is evaluated, after the chief medical officer for England expressed concern that recent controversies had damaged the public’s faith in the way research was carried out and presented.

Sally Davies cited recent debates over the use of drugs such as statins and the antiviral treatment oseltamivir (Tamiflu), both of which have been covered extensively in The BMJ and in the mainstream media.

Davies sent a letter in February to the president of the academy, …