In 1975, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article submitted by Dr. Michael Crichton, who would become a wildly successful writer of sci-fi thrillers and Hollywood screenplays. Crichton reviewed 10 articles submitted by physicians to various medical journals, and he was sharply critical of the poor writing style, which he deemed unreadable by readers who were not clinical researchers. He lamented the terse scientific prose filled with jargon, redundancy, poor syntax, and “medical obfuscation.”
As a physician, Crichton rebuked colleagues who insisted on writing as if they were sharing laboratory notes. The best-selling author of “Jurassic Park” and “ER” believed medical writing should appeal to all stakeholders, from patients to families and prospective investors to researchers in other scientific fields. Crichton’s comments about the mystification of medical literature in the 1970s continue to resonate today, but things have substantially improved thanks to the work of medical writing services.
Precise, Accurate, and Accessible Writing for Medical Communications
The need for clear communication of scientific findings was strongly felt during the COVID-19 pandemic when the World Health Organization urged clinical researchers and scientists to follow the guidance of the Strategic Communications Framework when writing about SARS-CoV-2. The framework outlines writing principles such as clarity, accuracy, legibility, and relevance. The goal is to produce materials that are easy to understand and enjoyable to read without obfuscation.
When it comes to promotional and marketing materials, the medical profession must submit to legal and regulatory scrutiny. Physicians and researchers should aim for a balance of regulatory compliance and effective communications; for this reason, seasoned teams rely on medical writing services to not only review promotional materials but also craft them with prose that will appeal to the right audiences.
The success of the pharmaceutical industry hinges upon the effectiveness of their written communications. All promotional materials for new medications should go through a review process that emphasizes general reference, formatting, fact-checking, quality assurance, and dedicated assessments.
How Medical Writing Services Help Their Clients
Beyond the legal and regulatory aspects of reviewing promotional materials, medical writing services can also prepare press releases, responses to scientific publications, monographs for pharmaceutical products, training materials, translations, and more.
Some promotional materials can be significantly enhanced with data visualization elements such as infographics to simplify complex data and promote understanding. Writing for specific audiences is crucial in some situations; for example, you want to convey an educational tone when producing content for patients, and there should be a strong focus on safety. Patient-centered communications are always recommended in the medical field, but other tones should be applied when writing for different stakeholders, such as prospective investors.
In the end, working with medical writing services can go a long way in terms of promoting your research findings, pharmaceutical products, and clinical treatments. You want to avoid falling into the medical obfuscation trap that Michael Crichton warned about decades ago; moreover, you want to strike the right balance between compliance, ethics, and marketing.
Published by: Josh Tatunay
