Comment on: Good publication practice guidelines for medical communications agencies: a MedComm perspective

Online Summary

Correspondence on: Good publication practice guidelines for medical communications agencies: a MedComm perspective [Bareket-Samish A et al., Curr Med Res Opin 2009;25:453-61 (doi: 10.1185/03007990802646584)]     

Good publication practice for pharmaceutical companies: why we need another set of guidelines

Summary

A total of 64 patients suffering from trichomoniasis were treated with a single oral dose of 2.0?g. tinidazole or 2.0?g. metronidazole in a comparative study. Forty-three patients received tinidazole, and 21 patients metronidazole. In the tinidazole group, 3 therapy failures occurred; in the metronidazole group, 1 therapy failure was observed. Even though there was a small number of patients, the tolerance of tinidazole seemed to be slightly better than that of metronidazole. These results seem to correspond with those of other authors with regard to the effectiveness and the tolerance of the single-dose treatment of tinidazole in treating trichomonal infections. The results with this new dosage schedule are at least equivalent and perhaps even superior to the usual 7-day treatment regime.     

Lack of involvement of medical writers and the pharmaceutical industry in publications retracted for misconduct: a systematic,controlled, retrospective study

Abstract

Objectives:

The primary objective of this study was to quantify how many publications retracted because of misconduct involved declared medical writers (i.e., not ghostwriters) or declared pharmaceutical industry support. The secondary objective was to investigate factors associated with misconduct retractions.     

从新医改的角度解析区域医疗服务信息平台建设内容的定性研究

目的为解决目前我国区域医疗服务信息平台建设中存在的认识不一、系统分割、投资浪费等问题,为各地规划和设计后续建设提供建议。方法采用系统分析、专题讨论、面对面访谈的方法分析新医改的总目标:解决"看病难、看病贵"的内涵,从其对立面"看得起病,看得上病、看得好病、减少患病以及加强管理"着手,对其所包含的内容、对区域医疗信息化提出的要求、下一步应该在区域医疗信息化建设中完善的重点、以及其中的难点进行分析、总结归纳,共讨论、修改3轮。结果完善基础信息化建设、有效的总体规划与顶层设计、标准的统一与规范化、基础信息的采集与数据库建设、软件开发与系统的集成、完善个人身份识别卡是当前区域医疗信息化建设的基础内容,在基础内容上构建区域医疗服务信息平台,开展远程医疗、双向转诊是当前区域医疗信息化建设中的解决"看病难、看病贵"问题的最佳途径。结论区域医疗信息化建设在很多方面可以解决老百姓"看病难、看病贵"的问题,目前统一认识,各地根据自身情况规范后续建设内容,可以减少浪费,少走弯路。     

Hospital pharmacists'' awareness of a new antibiotic guideline in the UK: implications for practice.

Objectives: Pharmacists play an important role in the review of local hospital guidelines. British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines for the management of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) were updated in 2001, and it is important that individual hospital recommendations are based upon this national guidance. The aim of this study was to identify UK Chief Pharmacists’ awareness of these updated guidelines one year after their publication. Secondary aims were to identify whether pharmacists had subsequently initiated revision of institutional CAP guidelines, and what roles different professional staff had performed in this process. Method: A self-completion postal questionnaire was sent to the Chief Pharmacist (or their nominated staff) in 253 UK NHS hospitals in November 2002. This aimed to identify issues relating to their awareness of the 2001 BTS guidelines and subsequent revision of their hospital’s guidelines. Results:188 questionnaires were returned (a response rate of 74%), of which 164 hospitals had local antibiotic prescribing guidelines. Respondents in 29% of these hospitals were unaware of the 2001 BTS publication and institutional guidelines had been revised in only 51% of hospitals where the Chief Pharmacist was purportedly aware of the new BTS guidance. Generally, more staff types were involved in revising guidelines than initiating revision. Conclusions:Variability existed in both Chief Pharmacists’ awareness of new national guidance and subsequent review processes operating in individual hospitals. A lack of proactive reaction to new national guidance was identified in some hospitals, and it is hoped that the establishment of specialist “infectious diseases pharmacists” will facilitate the review of institutional antibiotic prescribing guidelines in the future.     

Doping in sport: a review of medical practitioners' knowledge, attitudes and beliefs

Background

Central to the work of many medical practitioners is the provision of pharmaceutical support for patients. Patients can include athletes who are subject to anti-doping rules and regulations which prohibit the use of certain substances in and out of competition. This paper examines the evidence on medical practitioners’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs towards doping in sport.

Methods

A systematic search strategy was followed. Research questions and relevance criteria were developed a priori. Potentially relevant studies were located through electronic and hand searches limited to English language articles published between 1990 and 2010. Articles were assessed for relevance by two independent assessors and the results of selected studies were abstracted and synthesised. Outcomes of interest were knowledge, attitudes and beliefs in relation to doping in sport.

Results

Six studies met the inclusion criteria and were examined in detail. Samples reflected a range of medical practitioners drawn from the UK, France (2), Greece, Italy and Ireland. The investigations varied with respect to outcome focus and quality of evidence presented.

Conclusion

Whilst the extant empirical research posits a negative attitude towards illegal performance enhancement combined with a positive inclination towards doping prevention, it also exposes a limited knowledge of anti-doping rules and regulations. Insufficient education, leading to a lack of awareness and understanding, could render this professional group at risk of doping offences considering Article 2.8 of the World Anti-Doping Agency Code (WADC). Moreover, in light of the incongruence between professional medical codes and WADC Article 2.8, medical professionals may face doping dilemmas and therefore further discourse is required. At present, the current evidence-base makes it difficult to plan developmentally appropriate education to span the exposure spectrum. Addressing this situation appears warranted.     

Drug use as a ‘practice of the self’: is there any place for an ‘ethics of moderation’ in contemporary drug policy?

This paper offers a series of critical interrogations of the principles and practice of harm minimisation. This critique draws from Michel Foucault's account of ethics, pleasure and moderation in pointing to some significant gaps and conceptual problems within Australia's National Drug Strategy. I argue that this strategy has had only indirect impacts upon the ways in which illicit drugs are consumed in Australia, and on the behaviour of individual users. Part of this problem lies in the ways in which the cultures and the contexts of illicit drug use have been conceptualised within contemporary drug policy. Following Foucault, I argue that drug use ought to be conceptualised as a distinctive ‘practice of the self’. I argue further that Foucault's work on pleasure and ethics offers important new ways of understanding the changing nature of drug use for young people, as well as providing new conceptual bases for the design and delivery of harm minimisation strategies within those settings and contexts in which drug use takes place.