Seroxat was never licensed for children in this country, a message the media largely failed to report.

THE PR PROFESSIONAL'S VIEW


Karen Winterhalter, managing director, Onyx Health


http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/795949/REPUTATION-CHECK-Will-Seroxat-scandal-damage-GSK/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH


‘The majority of people do not really understand the pharmaceutical industry and this leads

to suspicion. The negative stories are never balanced with good ones about the investment pharma firms put into research, the development of corporate social responsibility programmes encouraging more science in schools, or the fact that the industry employs about 323,000 people directly and indirectly in the UK.



The two biggest hurdles the industry faces are the general lack of understanding of how a drug gets its licence and how certain sections of the media report drug-related stories.





While many condemn GSK for not disclosing problems with Seroxat earlier, I wonder how many realise the drug was never licensed for children in this country, a message the media largely failed to report.



As well as getting positive facts out about the industry, we need a basic education programme about how drugs are licensed and funded in the UK. We can expect a dip in the industry's reputation but, as history has shown, it will be temporary.'