Drug industry told to disclose details of doctors' events

doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7562.278-b

BMJ 2006;333:278 (5 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7562.278-b

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Drug industry told to disclose details of doctors’ events

Canberra Bob Burton

An Australian government regulator has approved a drug industry self regulatory code of conduct on marketing—but only on condition that member companies publicly disclose details of hospitality provided to doctors at medical education events.

Medicines Australia, the main drug industry body, applied for authorisation of a slightly amended version of its current code of conduct. After reviewing submissions from medical groups, consumers, and the industry, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which is charged with protecting consumer interests, stated that it doubted that “the code is effectively enforced.” The commission also noted that despite some companies repeatedly breaching the code, the oversight committee “did not impose heavy sanctions in any circumstances.”

The code states that “hospitality” must be “secondary to the educational purpose” of a meeting and that any meals “should not be extravagant.” However, the regulator noted that what was considered “extravagant” could only be judged . . . [Full text of this article]

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