NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH

[lennie]

Abbott backs Roche dinners probe

Health Minister Tony Abbott says drug company Roche should be punished if it is found to have broken the rules with lavish dinners for specialist doctors.

The industry's self-regulatory body, Medicines Australia, says an independent committee will investigate reports Roche spent tens of thousands of dollars buying dinner for cancer specialists at a top Sydney restaurant. The pharmaceutical industry's code of conduct states that company-sponsored meals should be simple and modest.

Mr Abbott says the public needs to be sure incentives offered to doctors by drug companies are not influencing patient treatment.
"Under the Medicines Australia process, there is the capacity the impose quite high fines on drug companies that break the rules," he said. "If they have broken the rules they should be fined heavily and appropriately."

Roche has refused to comment on the issue.

[glow=red,2,300]I'VE ALWAYS BEEN TAUGHT THAT THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH.[/glow]

[lennie]

Drug code to improve transparency, says watchdog

Australia's competition watchdog has imposed tough new disclosure conditions on drug companies and their dealings with doctors. The Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has signed-off on the pharmaceutical industry's self-regulated code of conduct and has ordered drug companies to disclose more details on the cost and type of hospitality and educational activities they provide to doctors.

The ACCC says it still has grave concerns about whether the code is effectively enforced but its chairman, Graeme Samuel, says the commission has gone as far as it legally can. "We want full details to be there so that the public at large can examine the information and form their own view as to whether or not drug companies are crossing the boundaries of proper ethical behaviour in dealing with the medical profession, and as to whether the members of the medical profession might themselves be being subjected to undue influence," he said.

The information will have to be made available to the public via a website. Mr Samuel says there has been increasing concern that the existing code was not rigorous enough. "It'll give the patient the ability to ask the doctor, 'Look, can you give me a bit more explanation as to why it is you're prescribing this drug, I've read that this particular company's been involved in activities that don't look entirely proper, can you please explain?'," he said. "And that's the accountability that one hopes will come from the self regulatory code that's been authorised," he said.

one wonders what else has been going on....