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Advertising Policies of Medical Journals: Conflicts of Interest for Journal Editors and Professional Societies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

David Orentlicher  and
Michael K. Hehir II
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Extract

As the medical profession becomes more and more of a commercial enterprise, commentators are subjecting conflicts of interest in medicine to increasing scrutiny. However, one critical area of conflict has largely escaped discussion—the conflicts of interest raised by the advertising policies of medical journals. Moreover, when these conflicts are discussed, they are examined almost exclusively in terms of the concerns that they pose for journal editors. Yet, there is a second critical concern with journal advertising policies. The policies also create serious conflicts of interest for the professional societies that own medical journals.

In this article, we will discuss the conflicts of interest that are raised for journal editors and professional societies by journal advertising policies, and we will conclude that the policies are exactly backward. Currently, medical journals rely on advertisements from pharmaceutical companies and other health-related businesses and avoid—indeed exclude—advertisements from consumer-oriented companies, like producers of automobiles, golf equipment, or jewelry. We submit that the medical journals, the medical profession, and the public would be better served if consumeroriented advertisement were preferred over health-related advertising.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , Summer 1999 , pp. 113 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 1999

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References

Journal advertising creates other ethical concerns in addition to the conflicts of interest concerns that we discuss. For example, expenditures on advertising arguably raise the costs of drugs to patients, creating hardship for poor patients. These other ethical concerns, while important, are beyond our scope.Google Scholar
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