BMJ 1996;312:506 (24 February)

Letters

Sensible drinking

Government's recommendations should be considered as a whole

EDITOR,--As chairman of the Interdepartmental Group on Sensible Drinking, which drew up the government's new recommendations regarding sensible drinking, I wish to respond to Griffith Edwards's editorial.1

Firstly, the group reviewed the message about sensible drinking in the context of government policy. We were not, and did not wish to be, "arbiters of what doctors say to their patients." That responsibility clearly lies with individual medical practitioners and is a matter for their judgment in the light of the circumstances of individual patients.

Secondly, the government has a duty to assure itself that publicly funded health promotion campaigns are based on accurate and defensible advice. Civil servants take considerable pride in providing objective advice untainted by outside vested interests. Our report sets out fully the group's members, expert advisers, and method of proceeding and the evidence taken and the basis for our . . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Sensible drinking
Griffith Edwards
BMJ 1996 312: 1. [Extract] [Full Text]

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ