TY - JOUR T1 - From info-desert to info-demic: the role of independent drug bulletins JF - Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin JO - Drug Ther Bull SP - 66 LP - 67 DO - 10.1136/dtb.2022.000007 VL - 60 IS - 5 AU - David Phizackerley AU - James A Cave Y1 - 2022/05/01 UR - http://dtb.bmj.com/content/60/5/66.abstract N2 - In the late 1950s and early 1960s independent drug bulletins first began to be published. At that time, laws on the licensing of medicines had yet to be introduced, there was little effective control of marketing and promotion of medicines, and summaries of product characteristics for prescribers and information leaflets on medicines for patients did not exist.1 2 Crucially, there was a little recognition of the importance of scientific evidence to clinical practice and few publications provided clinicians with independent evaluations on the use of medicines.The first independent drug bulletin, The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics, was introduced in the USA in 1959.2 In 1962, the UK Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin was launched ‘to provide clinicians with clear, reliable, usable, impartial and independent information to help ensure patients [got] the best deal’.1 Both publications stressed the importance of improving the health of patients and were born out of organisations that had been developed to support consumers (the Consumers’ Union in the USA and the Consumers’ Association … ER -