Advertisement woes

The March 29, 2005, issue of CMAJ carries a full-page advertisement for Hydromorph Contin on page 848. The advertisement states that “some patients may also experience fewer side effects than with morphine...”, and this statement cites two 2 references.1^,2 In fact, the two 2 articles cited do not make this claim, or even suggest it as far as I can see. The first citation does not contain the word “hydromorphone” anywhere in the text, and neither article mentions the specific product being advertised.

It is hard for me to escape the conclusion that the advertiser knowingly sought to mislead CMAJ's readers by citing this work in the hope that no-one would check the facts. That I did so in this case is merely a function of the implausibility of the claim and my interest in the area.

CMAJ is an authoritative voice in Canadian medicine. I suggest that greater steps need to be taken to ensure that every word of every advertisement in it is verifiably truthful. This is too important to be left to the advertisers themselves.