Should there be drug advertising

Editor - I had been sitting on the fence, deliberating what stance I would take on the issue of whether to allow drug advertising in the studentBMJ. That is, until I read Joseph Ana's letter on the African experience.¹ The sentiments expressed, essentially in favour of advertising, conflicted with my innate disposition to oppose it. I now acknowledge, however, that profit motives are nearly always the predominant driving force behind a drug company's decision to market a product. Philanthropy plays little, if any part. This sobering realisation has lead to a seismic shift in my viewpoint, albeit with one major proviso. In contrast to the drugs industry, professional medical journals must keep their own backyards clean and not negate their moral responsibility to practise more ethical policies whenever the opportunity arises. Although not alluded to in their article, I wonder if the editors, Richard Smith and Rhona MacDonald, rank care of the environment alongside their list of other noble cares, such as poverty and racism?^{2 3} Unless editorial content is cut, a natural consequence of publishing drug adverts in the studentBMJ will be the increased use of paper and thus natural resources. Otherwise, the assumption has to be that the studentBMJ deems it acceptable to cut content to make way for adverts. Far from tightening its grip on editorial independence it loosens it, by relenting to the lure of cash over content. Editorial content, at least in the context of professional medical journals, should always outweigh profits. The journal missed a golden opportunity in asking readers to vote simply on the principle of allowing drug adverts.⁴ Being able to qualify a "yes" vote with the sentiment that advertising be restricted solely to the web version of the journal would have won my vote. On the contrary, I would not have hesitated to vote against adverts, were there any possibility of them appearing in the paper version. I think that publications in general are moving far too slowly to exploit the environmental benefits that the World Wide Web offers us.

Championing the cause of the environment is a laudable aim, and the studentBMJ should promote the benefits of web over paper in all future debates. It has worked wonderfully for the journal already. Implementing "rapid responses" has seen a fantastic transformation in the art of correspondence. The studentBMJ is suitably placed to extol the virtues of "www," and it should strive to lead the way in maximising the main advantage that it affords us-hat of a paperless society.

Amina Hussain, PRHO, University of Inverness,
Email: email


studentBMJ 2001;09:261-304 August ISSN 0966-6494

1. Ana J. Should there be drug advertising? The African experience. studentBMJ 2001;9:252­3. (July.)
2. Smith R. Should there be drug advertising? studentBMJ 2001;9:206. (June.)
3. Macdonald R. Should there be drug advertising? studentBMJ 2001;9:207. (June.)
4. studentBMJ poll. Do you think we should have drug advertisements in the studentBMJ? June 2001 issue: www.studentbmj.com

Contributions from David Rosin, consultant surgeon and chairman of the MSLC, and Charlotte Morris, training board of the Royal College of Surgeons.