The Danish Society for Pharmacoepidemiology has formulated a number of suggestions for the responsible dissemination of research results in news media.
When new studies are published, media interest can be significant, as health and drugs affect a large part of the population. Sharp angles and exaggeration of scarce research results can cause citizens to become unnecessarily worried and significantly burden the healthcare system. As such, skewed press coverage of specific studies can ultimately cause patients to either opt out of effective treatments or opt for less relevant treatment or even hurtful alternatives. It is therefore important for public health that the debate on new research results takes place in a responsible manner.
Based on recent years’ debate on research dissemination, the Danish Society for Pharmacoepidemiology has drawn up a number of calls for researchers and institutions. The recommendations have been created on the basis of a debate day, which was held in collaboration with the Danish Medicines Agency in the autumn of 2018, with the participation of a large number of actors in the field.
On January 22nd 2019, Universities Denmark released 7 principles for good research communication. Their background and principles can be found here