Product placement in the waiting room

doi:10.1136/bmj.39589.491030.BD

BMJ 2008;336:1274-1275 (7 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39589.491030.BD

Feature

Commercial interests

Product placement in the waiting room

Leo Hickman, journalist

leo.hickman@guardian.co.uk

Are "health" leaflets displayed in the waiting room just a Trojanhorse allowing private companies direct access to patients?Leo Hickman reports

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

It is clear that the NHS is under increasing pressure from commercialinterests. A handful of hospitals across the United Kingdomnow have Burger King or McDonald’s operating fast foodfranchises on site.

But one area that has so far been largely ignored is the waycommercial interests are able to advertise in waiting roomswithout any vetting. Currently few safeguards exist within theNHS to protect against such infiltration.

I recently undertook a six month investigation into how companiesare allowed to pay considerable amounts of money so that theycan target patients in waiting rooms, knowing that patientsare likely to think that any advertising is endorsed by theirgeneral practitioner.

Advice or advertising?

More worrying, perhaps, some companies, via their trade associations,are producing health "advice" leaflets with information abouttheir products. Shouldn’t the NHS, not the companies,disseminate such information?

My investigation began when I picked up a leaflet . . . [Full text of this article]