Offline: The necessity (and risks) of science advocacy

Abstract

Should doctors ever convert a clinical problem into a campaign promise? If the experience of one correspondent is anything to go by, doctors should steer clear of anything that could be remotely branded “activist”. She is a prominent UK medical scientist, a person who has campaigned hard to promote clinical research. But in our modern NHS—where fear is the dominant leitmotiv—institutions tend to baulk at those they perceive to be troublemakers. Her outspoken comments have led to threats of dismissal. To keep her job, she was forced to sign a statement forbidding her to speak publicly. She lost the right to lead research projects. Her university would almost certainly like her to resign voluntarily. She worries that she will soon be sacrificed to save the institution's misguided actions. So it might seem like a mistake to make noise about a severe, yet hidden, health crisis in the UK, one that our medical and public health leaders seem happy to neglect.