Why The BMJ will no longer report on unsubstantiated press releases

ABSTRACT

Doctors and other UK public sector workers have concluded that time is now, in a pay dispute that will turn a long hot summer into an autumn and winter of discontent (doi10.1136/bmj.o1859, doi10.1136/bmj.o1868, doi10.1136/bmj.o1872, doi10.1136/bmj.o1873).1234 Workforce pressures and staff burnout are at unprecedented levels (doi10.1136/bmj.o1866, doi10.1136/bmj.o1796).56 NHS restructuring is understandably met with “change fatigue” (doi10.1136/bmj.o1765).7 The effect on staff manifests in worse outcomes and frustrating experiences for patients, the self evident logic of which seems to escape the people in power. The positive focus on health at the start of the covid pandemic is now replaced by policy makers telling us that covid is over when it isn’t (doi10.1136/bmj.o1779, doi10.1136/bmj-2021-069558).89 Or that it is just flu, even when new estimates suggest that, among the many non-flu-like sequelae of covid, long term smell and taste dysfunction may be affecting around 5% of people (doi10.1136/bmj-2021-069503, doi10.1136/bmj.o1653).1011 The war in Ukraine and the crisis in the cost of living are being used as a pretext to renege on climate commitments and boost fossil fuel extraction, when what is needed is a redoubling of effort on tackling the climate crisis and faster progress, such as on air pollution targets (doi10.1136/bmj.o1664).12 The modern world is ruled by expediency and populist manifestos and soundbites. The first test of our new policy may be imminent now that the World Health Organization has declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern (doi10.1136/bmj.o1874).19 The way to stop the boot stamping on our faces for ever, to change the daunting picture of our future, is to stand by our principles, and that begins by distinguishing between what is right and wrong. 1 Waters A Torjesen I. Doctors’ pay award what have different groups been offered, and is industrial action “inevitable”?