University “tainted” by tobacco money, BMJ editor resigns teaching post

Steven Wharry

British Medical Journal editor Richard Smith has resigned his professorship in medical journalism at the University of Nottingham to protest the school's acceptance of funds from a tobacco company.

“I am resigning both because I said that I would do what the BMJ's readers said I should do and because I've argued so strongly that the university shouldn't have taken this money,” said Smith, who also serves on CMAJ's editorial board.

Smith put the question of whether he should quit the post to BMJ readers in an online poll conducted May 4–10. Of the 1075 people who voted, 54% felt he should resign if the university refused to return the Can$8.5 million British American Tobacco (BAT) grant, which will fund an international centre for the study of corporate social responsibility.

Although the vote itself was close, an overwhelming 84% of respondents thought the university should return the money. However, many BMJ readers said Smith should stay at the university and continue to draw attention to the case, a point of view the editor can understand. “Yes, [that has] some validity,” Smith told CMAJ. “But I've made the point in my letter of resignation that I'm privileged to have a public position where I can still take part in the debate. The main point of this exercise was to prompt debate, and we seem to have succeeded.”

The decision will cost him £900. “I remembered during the episode that they were supposed to pay me £300 a year, and they did once. It didn't seem right to ask for the last 3 years' money as I was resigning.”

Since the funding deal was finalized last December, the university's decision has come under fire from health advocates and the media, with many critics claiming this is simply a new way for “Big Tobacco” to promote its products.

“Far from attempting to ‘bypass constraints on promoting tobacco’ — as some of the more entrenched critics suggest — we are supporting moves toward a deeper understanding of what corporate social responsibility means today,” said Michael Prideaux, BAT's director of corporate and regulatory affairs. “We know we are embarked on a challenging path, but no one should doubt the seriousness of our commitment.”

“I can't think of any other industry that has behaved so consistently in an unethical manner as the tobacco industry,” responds Smith. “The university is tainted by taking this money.”