Clinical trials transparency

I'm currently at the EMWA conference in Budapest, where this morning I attended a fascinating symposium on clinical trials transparency (the symposium went on all day, but I was teaching a workshop on critical evaluation of medical literature this afternoon, so sadly I couldn't stay for the afternoon session).

Good pharma

I recently had the privilege of being guest editor for an issue of Medical Writing, the journal of the European Medical Writers Association. It was a theme issue, with the theme being "good pharma".

There is a lot of talk about bad pharma these days, some of it justified, but much of it hyped up. After all, bashing the pharmaceutical industry is always a great way to sell books or newspapers. So we at EMWA thought it might be interesting to look at things from a different perspective.

Bad Pharma review

I recently wrote a review of Ben Goldacre's book, Bad Pharma, for the European Medical Writers Association's journal. For the benefit of anyone who isn't an EMWA member and doesn't have access to the journal, here is my Bad Pharma review.

Ghostwriting myths

Ghostwriting in the medical literature is something of a favourite topic of mine. There are many articles discussing the problem of ghostwriting, but more often based on opinion and prejudice than on facts and evidence. A great many myths about ghostwriting are endlessly rehearsed in medical journals, and those myths formed the subject of a guest blog post I wrote for PharmaPhorum a few months back.

Introduction to medical writing course, June 2013

We are pleased to announce the next date for our popular "introduction to medical writing" course, which will be held on 21 June in London.

Book early to avoid disappointment, and to take advantage of the generous "early bird" discount.

More details here.

Misleading statistics from Sense About Science

I'm normally a huge, huge fan of Sense About Science. They do fantastic work in raising public awareness and understanding of scientific issues. In a world where people are bombarded with pseudoscientific nonsense from politicians, pedlars of quack 'alternative' treatments, and the like, their work is necessary, important, and usually very well executed.

Ben Goldacre's Bad Pharma

Anyone who reads this blog is almost certainly familiar with Bad Pharma, the latest book by Ben Goldacre. I’d like to share some of my thoughts about this book.

Cochrane review on industry sponsorship

Many papers have been published that compare clinical trial publications sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry with those not sponsored by industry. Last week, the Cochrane Collaboration published a systematic review by Lundh et al of those papers. The stated objectives of the review were to investigate whether industry sponsored studies have more favourable outcomes and differ in risk of bias, compared with studies having other sources of sponsorship.

Places still available for medical writing training

We still have a few places left for our 1-day course "Introduction to Medical Writing" on 19 October. Places are limited, however, so if you want to be sure of a place on the course, then please book your place soon. More details here.

EMWA conference podcast

Ever wondered what medical writers do? Here is a short podcast (just under 10 min) recorded at the EMWA conference in Cyprus in May 2012, in which I talk to some medical writers about their many and varied jobs.

So here is your chance to hear about the world of medical writing from the medical writers themselves. I hope you enjoy it.