HealthNewsReview.org publisher Gary Schwitzer has expressed concerns that the drug company Pfizer is funding National Press Foundation fellowships on cancer issues and that the Society of Professional Journalists is orchestrating a tour of Eli Lilly corporate headquarters including a "professional development session on the reporting of mental health issues" and a "networking reception with Lilly's leaders."
Lilly makes the psychiatric drugs Cymbalta, Prozac and Zyprexa. Pfizer's website indicates it makes several medications for treatment of cancer.
Schwitzer, a professor at the University of Minnesota health journalism program, notes that such actions are conflicts of interest and violate the SPJ code of ethics. He cites a 2008 article in the British Medical Journal warning that "Doctors should be wary of the increasing entanglement of medical journalists and the drug industry."
So should consumers.
Keep this in mind next time you come across news reporting of medical or mental health issues, especially when drugs are involved.
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