From Mr A. Jolley, MRPharmS
SIR,—As I browsed through Telextext and Ceefax recently, I came upon
a report that stated some members of the Medicines Control Agency were alleged
to own large numbers of shares in some public limited companies.
Pharmacists are under scrutiny from fraud investigation units, consumer groups
and the MCA itself, and the allegation of large shareholdings by members of
the MCA is surely one of great significance, yet this story appears to have
been buried. That in itself I find just as disturbing as the alleged shareholdings.
On August 15, a story concerning a Liverpool pharmacist’s appearance before
the Statutory Committee the next day was printed and yet I am still waiting
weeks later for the full story concerning the MCA to be published anywhere.
The impression I get is that there are different rules for contractors and the
rest of the “establishment”. Pharmacists get the bad publicity; the
establishment gets protection from journalistic amnesia.
I would hope that we may find a full report of the MCA alleged shareholdings
story in the official organ of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
Arthur Jolley
Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside