Paul Farrow, Communications Director at Oxford PharmaGenesis, reviews the published evidence that supports the new AMWA-EMWA-ISMPP joint position statement on the role of professional medical writers.

Recorded 5 April 2017 at a MedComms Networking event in Oxford. Produced by NetworkPharma.tv

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

ABSTRACT:

The AMWA-EMWA-ISMPP Joint Position Statement on the role of professional medical writers was released in January 2017, by three leading medical publications professional organisations: the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA), and the International Society of Medical Publications Professionals (ISMPP). It includes the statement that: ‘Professional medical writing support helps authors and sponsors to disclose their research in peer reviewed journals and at scientific congresses in an ethical, accurate, and timely manner, with the ultimate aim of advancing patient care. Professional medical writers have extensive knowledge of ethical publication guidelines’.

The Joint Position Statement is supported by an evidence base of six publications, which it cites, and a seventh paper, which was published in early 2017. The evidence can be briefly summarised as follows.

* Medical writer support is associated with a higher rate of compliance with CONSORT clinical trial reporting guidelines.
* Publications retracted because of misconduct rarely involve declared medical writing or pharmaceutical industry support.
* Medical publication professionals show good awareness of ethical publication practices and guidelines.
* Declared medical writing support is associated with higher quality reporting of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) compared with no writing support.
* Medical writer support can help to expedite data availability, aid timely dissemination of clinical data, and increase the availability of higher value evidence in the public domain.
* In an evaluation of outcome reporting of RCTs, industry-funded articles with medical writer support reported the fewest non-pre-specified outcomes.

Please see Paul’s presentation for more detail.

Refs:

American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) – see http://www.amwa.org/position_statement

European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) – see http://journal.emwa.org/writing-better/amwa-emwa-ismpp-joint-position-statement-on-the-role-of-professional-medical-writers/

International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) – see http://www.ismpp.org/advocacy

Written by Penny Gray, Freelance Medical Writer

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

We are building a library of free webcasts, like this one, for the global MedComms Community and others at http://www.networkpharma.tv and we’d welcome your suggestions for new topics and speakers.

Full details of this MedComms Networking event are at http://medcommsnetworking.com/event87.html

Paul’s presentation (PDF format) is at http://medcommsnetworking.com/presentations/farrow_050417.pdf

Paul’s Linkedin page is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauljfarrow/

More about Oxford PharmaGenesis can be found at http://www.pharmagenesis.com

Filming and technical direction by Mario Crispino, Freelance Cameraman & Editor

[For the avoidance of doubt: this video is intended to be freely accessible to all. Please feel free to share and use however you like. Cheers, Peter Llewellyn, Director NetworkPharma Ltd and Founder of the MedComms Networking Community activity at http://www.medcommsnetworking.com]