Declaration of interests

I want to ensure my interests are completely clear. I’ve added more detail than one would usually find and I’ve also now provided an option to look at previous declarations.

Updated 03 June 2025

I’m noting down existing DOIs and, as time passes, it is inevitable there may be historical DOIs as well. I will always try to flag historical interests where I think they are relevant but having them all on the page quickly becomes unmanageable. It’s the fundamental problem with annual declarations — it’s easy to let an inconvenient venture, relationship or project drop off from a few years back in the hope that no one notices… And websites with doctors’ declarations are often updated too infrequently to be of significant value and details are often scant. I want this to be as transparent as possible.

Since February 2021, I have used the Wayback Machine to capture previous versions of this page and each time I make a change I’ll ensure that the Wayback Machine has a snapshot. You can browse previous versions of this page here:

Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.euanlawson.com/doi/

Lancaster University

I work as a clinical academic GP at Lancaster Medical School and I am paid, as is common for senior academic GPs (although it is not universal), on the NHS Consultant pay scale. My research at Lancaster is with people who use drugs and, more specifically, their interactions with primary care and general practice. On the teaching side, I am co-director of the primary care course for the MBChB.

Update on recently ended roles: As part of my Lancaster role, I was contracted as external examiner for the Y5 course of the medical degree at Dundee University until August 2024. I was appointed in December 2021 to be one of a group of mentors to the primary care department at CMC Vellore, India as part of a project run by the International group at the RCGP. This was unpaid and there was no expectation of travel - it was conducted remotely and has now wrapped up.

Grants and other academic roles

I am Co-I on the NIHR funded In-BOAT randomised controlled trial.That started on 01 May 2025: details here.°

Recently ended projects

NIHR Mapping Doctors° has now completed my funded involvement.
NIHR Three Schools: Experiences of and outcomes for Blackpool adults with enrolled in the ADDER programme who are treated with buprenorphine prolonged-release injection (Buvidal) opioid substitution therapy°
- In June 2024 I attended the EUROPAD conference in Lisbon to present findings from this project.
- This has now completed.
SAPC - Heads of Department
- I was chair of the SAPC Heads of Department for a short period but handed this over in March 2025.

Clinical work

I work as a self-employed locum for my clinical work. Some of these are in NHS general practices and the local OOH service (Cumbria Health). I have also been active with clinical work in substance misuse settings in the NW of England. (Ironically, this is now regarded as ‘private’ work, at least by the medical indemnity organisations, as substance misuse services are now commissioned by local councils.) My self-employed pay, by the time annual leave, pension, and additional indemnity premiums are taken into consideration, is comparable or less than my University pay.

In the past, I was the editor of the Harm Reduction Journal.

I was on the Expert Reference Group for the Dame Carol Black Independent Review on Drugs. In March 2021, I joined a DrugScience working group on Safe Injection Facilities.

I am involved with the Faculty of Public Health Special Interest Group on Drugs. In 2023 I was given Honorary Membership of the Faculty of Public Health.

British Journal of General Practice (BJGP)

Since September 2020 I have been the Editor of the BJGP. Initially, this was as Acting Editor but I was appointed formally in May 2021. I was appointed as Deputy Editor in 2013 and I am paid as an external consultant by the BJGP in line with RCGP standard rates.

Political affiliations

I am not a member of any political party.

In the past I was on the Expert Working Group for the Labour Campaign for Drug Policy Reform - but that has been very quiet in the past few years with little to no current activities.

This is more nebulous but I do think political beliefs can be an important declaration of interest. Describing oneself as on the ‘left’ or ‘right’ is rather inadequate. The website Political Compass offers a simple tool for a slightly more nuanced approach. The image shows where I sit.

Book royalties

I receive royalties for two books: The Healthy Writer and GP Wellbeing: Combatting Burnout in General Practice.

Other areas

I am a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners. I am no longer a member of the BMA but I am a member of Unite. I’m also a member of the Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC), the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME), and the Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA).

I am a director of a limited company, Greenmantle Medical Ltd. My editorial work and book income goes through the company.

That’s about it. I don’t have any other sources of income. I have never been paid by any drug companies or the pharmaceutical industry and they’ve not given me honoraria, or funding for conference fees and travel to exotic (or non-exotic for that matter) conference locations. I’ve not received other consultancy fees or similar from Pharma. I do, as part of my BJGP role and my work at the university, claim expenses for attending relevant conferences, meetings, and CPD.