# \[e-drug\] Save the Drug Therapeutics Bulletin! **URL:** \ **Category:** e-drug\ **Created:** [May 31, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-save-the-drug-therapeutics-bulletin/25533 "2006-05-31T15:25:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![merav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@merav](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/merav)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-save-the-drug-therapeutics-bulletin/25533/1 "2006-05-31T15:25:39Z")
E-DRUG: Save the Drug Therapeutics Bulletin! ------------------------------------------- [This message is first of all for UK E-druggers, but I am sure others may participate to show that the journal is important alos outside the UK. If you need a generic letter, please respond to Merav directly as E-drug cannot post attachments. KM, moderator] The Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB) has been providing NHS doctors in England with independent information about new medications for over 20 years. Up until now, the bulletin has been funded by the Department of Health and Which?. However on 31 March 2006, the Department of Health failed to renew the contract. Over the years, DTB has initiated successful campaigns for the removal or restriction of medicines that it could not recommend; prompted withdrawal of inappropriate promotional claims, e.g. the withdrawal of UK advertising for Yasmin, a combined oral contraception pill, and more recently, Viteyes, a nutritional supplement for macular degeneration; and exposed fundamental weaknesses in certain treatment policy and prescribing practice, e.g. in articles on 'Are rofecoxib and celecoxib safer NSAIDS?'; 'mild depression in general practice: time for rethink?'; and 'Simvastatin over the counter'. The contract for national provision of DTB had been capped at £1.4 million per year over a 6 year period. This is in the context of an NHS drug budget of around £8 billion per year and a pharmaceutical industry annual spend on promotion of £1.65 billion. DTB testimonials from a broad range of healthcare professionals confirm that the central provision of DTB is of enormous value to the NHS. In particular, clinicians see that DTB is crucial to the NHS in providing a balance to the promotional activities of the pharmaceutical industry. The fact that this view was echoed strongly by the Government and Department of Health at the recent Health Select Committee inquiry into the influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry shows the hollowness of the Department of Health’s argument in terminating DTB’s contract. We are asking that you help to reverse this decision by the Department of Health. To do this, we are joining DTB in a letter campaign. Write a letter and send it to: Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP Secretary of State for Health Department of Health Richmond House 79 Whitehall London SW1A 2NS Alternatively, you can send an email to HYPERLINK dhmail@doh.gsi.gov.uk. In addition, please send the other letter to your local MP. You can find his/her address and email at HYPERLINK [http://www.locata.co.uk/commons/](http://www.locata.co.uk/commons/). We feel that a letter would be more effective as it is less easily ignored however if you are short of time, an email would also be effective. We have attached 2 generic letters which are ready to be sent out if you do not have the time to write a personalised one. Please take the time to help us to ensure the future of this important resource. Merav Kliner PharmAware National Committee UK HYPERLINK leeds@pharmaware.co.uk HYPERLINK www.pharmaware.co.uk ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Leo\_Offerhaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@Dr\_Leo\_Offerhaus](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Dr_Leo_Offerhaus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-save-the-drug-therapeutics-bulletin/25533/2 "2006-05-31T18:19:05Z")
E-DRUG: Save the Drug Therapeutics Bulletin! (2) ------------------------------------------- Dear E-druggers, I do sympathize with the DTB staff and with Ms Hewitt, but one should just look at those bulletins which survived without outside support, simply on the basis of their high quality: First of all Revue Prescrire, but also the Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics, Pharma-Kritik, Arznei-Telegramm.... Make the outlook and the contents attractive and challenging, and you will find subscribers. Subsidies cannot save mediocre bulletins - just look at the Dutch remnant. Even a good (free) Internet journal could be an alternative. Good luck, Leo Offerhaus he Netherlands offerhausl@euronet.nl ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_J.W.F\_van\_Mil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Dr\_J.W.F\_van\_Mil](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Dr_J.W.F_van_Mil)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-save-the-drug-therapeutics-bulletin/25533/3 "2006-05-31T19:38:12Z")
E-DRUG: Save the Drug Therapeutics Bulletin! (3) -------------------------------------------- Dear E-drug friends, In this case I do not agree with Leo Offerhaus (althoughI usually do....). A 'free' high quality Drug Bulletin is an asset to the (medical) society. Practitioners who take a subscription to an independent drug-bulletin are usually already quite critical of medicines and medicine use. A freely distributed drug-bulletin may also influence the practitioners who usually would not pay much attention to their prescribing behaviour or to what they prescribe! The excellent and high quality bulletin 'La Revue Prescrire', also is a good example for this. Only 14.000 of the 28.000 subscribers are medical specialists or generalists, and France counts around 200.000 practicing doctors. So, the journal is only send to 7% of the prescribers (and those are the 'believers') in France and therefore its impact can only be limited. I personally would prefere a high quality bulletin to be distributed to all prescribers, and maybe pharmacists as well. And btw, Prescrire has also had external support in the past! [Yes until the French government stopped funding it, similar to what happens to DTB now. KM, moderator] Foppe van Mil Pharmacy Practice Consultant Chairman of Pharma Selecta Foundation ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Leo\_Offerhaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@Dr\_Leo\_Offerhaus](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Dr_Leo_Offerhaus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 5:47am UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-save-the-drug-therapeutics-bulletin/25533/4 "2006-06-01T05:47:32Z")
E-DRUG: Save the Drug Therapeutics Bulletin! (4) ------------------------------------------- The thousand dollar question remains: Does a "non-believer" who receives free copies of a drug bulletin improve his/her prescribing habits or does it not make any difference? I remember a newly appointed professor of medicine who left all his unread copies of the Lancet in his car boot for everyone to see - because he pretended that he had no time to read all that stuff, and even not to open the covers.... It all comes back to the main issue: The average medical practitioner does not read and pretends to have no time. At times I am quite pessimistic. Best wishes, Leo Offerhaus. The Netherlands offerhausl@euronet.nl ---
**Author:** ![edp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@edp](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/edp)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 12:26pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-save-the-drug-therapeutics-bulletin/25533/5 "2006-06-01T12:26:17Z")
E-DRUG: Save the Drug Therapeutics Bulletin! (5) ------------------------------------------- Dear E-druggers, An electronic (internet-based) journal sounds very interesting: could this be a collaborative project for ISDB members? [ISDB is the International Society of Drug Bulletins] Philippa. Philippa Saunders Essential Drugs Project 77 Lee Road Blackheath London SE3 9EN UK tel/fax 44 (0)20 8318 1419 email edp@gn.apc.org ----------------------------------- ---
**Author:** ![Bhava\_Narayana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Bhava\_Narayana](https://talk.edrugplus.org/u/Bhava_Narayana)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://talk.edrugplus.org/t/e-drug-save-the-drug-therapeutics-bulletin/25533/6 "2006-06-01T18:00:23Z")
E-DRUG: Save the Drug Therapeutics Bulletin! (6) ------------------------------------------- Respected Members I fully agree with Leo. In india medical journals are read only by medical students and doctors working in teaching institutions. Perhaps the time has come for medical journal publishers and editors to start thinking -why doctors dont read medical journals and what they want to read. In 1993 i made survey of 300 GPs on this aspect. I found 60% of doctors in GP practice forget 50% of what they are taught in medical school. They always prefered to read what they forgot rather than the latest devlopment which they can not put in to practice. Of course this situation in india continues same way. regards V.Bhava Narayana Editor Pharmed Trade News 3-3-62/A,New Gokhale Nagar, Ramanthapur,Hyderabad-500 013. Phone :91-40-27030681,32995727 Mob 919849551183,919323131524 Mobile:91-98495-51183 www.pharmedtradenews.com