Beltramini’s view on sponsored press events on AHCJ’s Covering Europe

Italian journalist argues against pharma-sponsored press event

By Amelia Beltramini

During my stay in England at the European conference on health journalism co-sponsored by AHCJ and Coventry University, one issue caught my attention.

The discussion turned to press events sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. It was argued that accepting invitations had advantages, such as savings in travel expenses, accommodations and conference registration fees.

Some participants argued that these goodies came with no side effects, provided that the report of the conference published by the journalist would close with a disclaimer that the author was a guest of the company. Readers should understand what this implies.

I strongly disagree with this opinion for five reasons:

Follows on the section of AHCJ devoted to Covering Europe.