5th April 2005

In its report on the influence of the pharmaceutical industry, published today, the House of Commons Health Committee recommends that all companies should follow Good Publication Practice. The guidelines are referenced on page 54 (paragraph 199) of the report and the Committee's sixth recommendation is:

'Ghost writing, in conjunction with suppression of negative trials results, is harmful. If prescribers do not have access to fair and accurate accounts of clinical trials they cannot be expected to make informed prescribing decisions. The guidelines on the subject of authorship and the role of professional medical writers quoted in Paragraph 199 [GPP] must be followed.'

Further details of the report can be found at:

www.parliament.uk