E-drug: BMJ starts drug advertising on website
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Dear E-druggers
Below is an extract from this week's editorial in the British Medical
Journal. The journal's website will now allow drug advertising. Should we
welcome such a development? Comments from E-druggers are invited!
Wilbert and Kirsten
Editor's Choice
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A big week
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/318/7179/0
The second important event is the appearance of pharmaceutical
advertising on our website. We are keen to find ways to keep the
website free, and advertising will obviously help. One reason
advertising has been slow to appear is because it has been unclear
whether it is acceptable to advertise drugs on a site open to the
public. The Medicines Control Agency has now told us that it is
acceptable because the intended audience is doctors. In that sense the
eBMJ is no different from the paper BMJ, which is available in public
libraries. Our research shows that the vast majority of readers want
advertising if it means keeping the site free (or at least cheap to
access).
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