First Success! - The Health Editor at the BBC has agreed to change the citation at the foot of professor Richard Gray’s BBC article. The old citation read that he has ‘given lectures on behalf of a number of pharmaceutical companies’. The new citation now reads: ‘Professor Gray is a co-author of a book on CBT for psychosis from which he receives royalties. He has also received fees and honoraria for providing consultancy and giving lectures on behalf of Jannsen Cilag, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, BMS and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals’.
Finally it is clear to readers that Richard Gray is paid by pharmaceutical companies. This puts readers in a better position to judge the integrity, objectivity and value of his article (which I argue promotes these pills in a heavily biased way). This is a small success, but we must not stop here.
What Now? - I have requested from the BBC its editorial policy on citations. Once I have that document, I am going to lobby the BBC to ensure its policy obliges editors to state clearly in every citation whenever a writer has received money from pharmaceutical companies – as has occurred above. This must be a matter of common policy, as it is for most respectable academic journals. If we can change the BBC’s editorial policy, then we can change the policy of other media outlets to. This form of surreptitious pharmaceutical advertising has to stop. And we must work together to stop it. I’ll keep you posted about ways you can help…..I shall be setting up an online petition soon.
See changed citation at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12716742
Finally it is clear to readers that Richard Gray is paid by pharmaceutical companies. This puts readers in a better position to judge the integrity, objectivity and value of his article (which I argue promotes these pills in a heavily biased way). This is a small success, but we must not stop here.
What Now? - I have requested from the BBC its editorial policy on citations. Once I have that document, I am going to lobby the BBC to ensure its policy obliges editors to state clearly in every citation whenever a writer has received money from pharmaceutical companies – as has occurred above. This must be a matter of common policy, as it is for most respectable academic journals. If we can change the BBC’s editorial policy, then we can change the policy of other media outlets to. This form of surreptitious pharmaceutical advertising has to stop. And we must work together to stop it. I’ll keep you posted about ways you can help…..I shall be setting up an online petition soon.
See changed citation at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12716742
Well done James. That's quite a positive outcome .Good luck with the rest of it.
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