From Mr J. Wilson,
MRPharmS
SIR,—I am sorry that Mr Thomson (PJ, September 23, p443)
feels that I have bedraggled his opinions and can only apologise unreservedly
if he is hurt by my comments in my “Broad Spectrum” article (PJ, September
16, p393) — that was
certainly not my intention.
I would agree with him completely that we need factual correctness, whether
in letters to the editor or in articles. In addition, we can certainly do without
political correctness in pharmacy (by whose politics are things “correct”
or not, anyway?). My point on censorship has more to do with possible refusal
to publish views that are in some way deemed to be politically incorrect or
“off-message”, and is vastly different from the case I quoted, which
had more to do with lack of space to refute my arguments.
Where I would, however, disagree with Mr Thomson, is that, notwithstanding any
libel actions such as that of Mr Hamilton and the Guardian, no editor can be
expected to be responsible for the accuracy of every point in a publication.
If everything had to be double-checked before publication, it would be difficult
if not impossible to publish on time. After all, we all like to get our PJ by
the Saturday; many of us actually look forward to receiving and perusing it.
I particularly look forward to seeing if I have managed to upset anyone that
week!
John Wilson
Arnold,
Nottinghamshire