how scientist’s obituary sparked a storm:

It was expected to be a laudatory précis of a life of achievement, a straightforward assessment of the career of a distinguished pharmaceutical expert.

But the obituary of David Horrobin that has just been published in the British Medical Journal falls considerably short of that expectation. Instead it presents a grimly unpleasant image of a conniving opportunist. The scientist ‘may prove to be the greatest snake oil salesman of his age’, it claims.

And the article goes on. Associates described him as ‘a rotter… given to avoiding his responsibilities’, it alleges, while Horrobin’s research ethics are described as ‘considerably dubious’. It is even suggested that researchers testing his company’s drugs had been offered sales royalties to influence the outcome of their work, a ‘highly unusual’ action, the obituary adds.

These views – unprecedented for a journal regarded as the mouthpiece of the medical establishment – have provoked a storm of outrage. The BMJ has been inundated with angry letters. Council members of the British Medical Association, the publisher of the BMJ, have logged complaints, while Horrobin’s family have asked the Press Complaints Commission to condemn the obituary… Guardian/Observer