Buying Editorials

Abstract

Editorials in medical journals are typically dispassionate, carefully written critiques of new research, often with just the right amount of background to place matters of uncertainty in context. The statements made in an editorial imply an informed, objective view that engenders trust. I am no doubt one of many whose approach to specific clinical problems is sometimes informed by the opinions expressed in editorials.In that light, I was recently surprised to receive a call from a representative of Edelman Medical Communications, a public-relations firm in New York, asking whether I would be interested in writing an editorial for a . . .