A doctor submitted a letter for publication describing a strange theory. This theory included treating patients with a particular chronic disease with just a foodstuff. The letter was completely unsuitable for publication in the journal and was also rather disordered. The editor was worried that the doctor might be putting patients at risk, and therefore notified the national regulatory agency. Was this the right thing to do?
It was the correct action to inform the national regulatory agency.
The editor wrote to the author who said that he wasn’t interested in what the editor had to say. No reply was received from the national body. The regulatory body has now asked their disciplinary board to investigate further. It transpires that the same disciplinary board had already reproached the author over a previous breach of moral and legal rules.