BMJ  2006;332:1109 (13 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7550.1109-a

News

Department of Health ends contract with drugs bulletin

London

The Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, a journal that has provided doctors across England with advice about medical treatments for over 40 years, has had its funding stopped by the Department of Health in the latest round of cost cutting in the NHS.

The last minute decision, which came only two hours before the bulletin's previous contract ended in March, leaves the publication's future uncertain and threatens to increase yet further the influence of the drug industry in doctors' prescribing, said its editor, Ike Iheanacho.

"In April last year the [parliamentary] health select committee pointed to us as an invaluable source of independent advice. So it seems strange that they have done this. The fear is that now doctors will be reliant on pharmaceutical promotion," Dr Iheanacho said.

"We have an unrivalled reputation for looking critically at the information on offer and giving doctors practical guidance, and many have told me they would find it harder to make decisions without us. The danger is it will be difficult to evaluate expensive new treatments that haven't stood the test of time," he said.

The journal, which is available online and is sent free to all NHS doctors in England, is published by the UK Consumers' Association (now known as Which?). In a survey carried out in winter 2005 89% of readers said the publication influenced their decisions and recommendations about treatment. Dr Iheanacho said that at least 100 have complained to the secretary of state for health about its withdrawal.

But a health department spokeswoman said that the cuts represented inevitable belt tightening. "The contract was due to end in March 2006, and as we were not sure whether sufficient funding would be available to start a new contract we gave the Consumers' Association warning of this," she said. "The contract has not been renewed, and officials are discussing the implications of this decision."

---

Longer versions of these articles are on bmj.com

Related Article

International consumer group slates drug companies’ marketing practices

Michael Day
BMJ 2006 333: 14. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

DTB or not DTB?

John S Dowden
bmj.com, 12 May 2006 [Full text]

Value for money

Trevor Watts
bmj.com, 12 May 2006 [Full text]

BMJ Publishing Group should allow free access for the poor developing countries

Murali Vallipuranathan
bmj.com, 13 May 2006 [Full text]

Cost-cutting, or worse?

Michael Schachter
bmj.com, 14 May 2006 [Full text]

DTB

Mohammed Ahmed
bmj.com, 15 May 2006 [Full text]

Save the D&TB

Roger E. Stephenson, et al.
bmj.com, 15 May 2006 [Full text]

Choices.

Piero Baglioni
bmj.com, 16 May 2006 [Full text]

MoH's decision will have negative impact on health care in developing countries

Neil M Pakenham-Walsh
bmj.com, 19 May 2006 [Full text]

Let the DTB be

Nosa Akporehwe, et al.
bmj.com, 30 May 2006 [Full text]