The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7445 p380
31 March 2007

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Reducing the risk of the commercial health market more
Prospecting for gold in the Emerald Isle more
Growing interest in opportunities to work in forensic science more
Stirring words more

Reducing the risk of the commercial health market

There is no lack of evidence that pharmaceutical manufacturers have in recent years intensified their advertising and promotional activities and introduced new techniques to persuade prescribers to use their products.

In the 3 March issue of The Lancet there is a comment on how a campaign is being waged to limit the influence of drug companies on the prescribing habits of doctors in the US. A charitable trust in Philadelphia is funding a national campaign calculated to reduce advertising influence on prescribing practice. Called the Prescription Project, it will promote guidelines that either ban or severely restrict many current practices in the realm of prescribing. It will examine manufacturers’ practices in communicating with doctors, doctors-in-training and medical students, including the provision of free meals and gifts such as pens, notepads and drug samples.

The US Government Accountability Office has calculated that in 2005 pharmaceutical companies spent more than $7.2bn on marketing directly to US doctors and provided them with free drug samples with a retail value of some $16bn. (It also spent $4.2bn on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines.) This contrasts with $31.4bn per year spent on research and development.

There is a call for academic medical centres to ban all free gifts and free meals and all payments for travel and attendance at meetings and for participation in online continuing educational programmes from companies manufacturing drugs or medical devices. Anyone linked financially with formulary and purchasing committees should be denied financial advantages and those wishing to support educational programmes could contribute to a central fund.

Some critics have argued that moves like this might reduce the educational opportunities for physicians. On the other hand, it is said, a cosy relationship between drug producers and prescribers undermines public confidence in the system and in the medical profession.

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Prospecting for gold in the Emerald Isle

There is an interesting story related in the 27 January issue of New Scientist regarding the legend of a gold mine in a river valley in Ireland. The legend started with the rumour in the summer of 1795 that a schoolmaster by the name of Dunaghoo had found gold in the bed of the Aughatinavough River in County Wicklow. When the word spread, hundreds of the schoolmaster’s neighbours dropped their farming activities and became prospectors.

Within six weeks, the miners recovered 80kg of gold from a red sediment. Before the end of the year, the famous “Wicklow nugget”, weighing 682g, was unearthed — the largest ever found in the British Isles. It was melted down and it is reputed that George III had it made into a snuffbox.

In October 1795 the militia seized the workings on behalf of the government and the seizure was legalised by Act of Parliament 18 months later. In 1798, the Irish Rebellion, which was suppressed by the government, halted excavations but in 1800 official mining was resumed. Between 1795 and 1800 some 300kg of gold was recovered and the search was extended for more lodes in the nearby hills.

A young geologist called Thomas Weaver organised trenching for the mother lode but despite extensive searches only veins of quartz devoid of gold resulted. A recent search in the watercourses collected more than 500g of gold from many localities, which could be examined for origin.

It is concluded that between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago indigenous gold was worked in north-west Ireland. The source was most likely iron pyrites containing some gold. During the last ice age, glacial deposit covered the gold and the river shifted course, again exposing the lode. The chance of finding a rich source of gold in the region is remote, however.

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Growing interest in opportunities to work in forensic science

Forensics is an unusual aspect of investigation for the pure or even the applied scientist. According to a report in the 15 February issue of Nature, the combination of intrigue, curiosity and elitism called for in adopting a career in forensics has captured the imagination of millions of students — perhaps stimulated by a number of current television series centred on forensic science.

UK universities are seeing new opportunities in the subject. Courses that include “forensics” in their titles are attracting students who might otherwise not have pursued a science degree.

Interest in the subject as a career is reflected in a rising number of applicants for jobs connected with criminal investigations. A steep increase in job applications has been reported by the UK’s largest independent forensic service, LGC Forensics, which offers consultative and analytical forensic services to police forces and other law enforcement agencies. The company now receives several thousand applications each year for some 50 vacancies. Even though it is important to attract interest, the size of the response seems to have been somewhat embarrassing.

A director of LGC Forensics has emphasised that a first degree in pure science is highly desirable for applicants because it provides a general grounding in science. But it can then take many years to develop the skills in biology, chemistry, toxicology and ecology needed to work at the senior levels that are desirable in giving expert evidence in a court of law and managing individual cases. It would be interesting to discover whether the company also recognises that a first degree in pharmacy provides an excellent grounding in a range of skills relevant to forensic investigations.

The University of Oxford is to collaborate with LGC Forensics in providing suitable training courses that envisage the development of a master’s degree in applied analytical science. Eventually this programme may produce a world-class course in vital areas of analytical science and its applications.

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And I quote …

Stirring words
“Agitators are a set of interfering, meddling people, who come down to some perfectly contented class of the community, and sow the seeds of discontent among them. That is the reason why agitators are so abundantly necessary. Without them, in our incomplete state, there would be no advance towards civilisation.”
— Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)