BMJ  2007;334:664-666 (31 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39153.511701.BE

Feature

Advertising prescription drugs

Sweetening the pill

Hannah Brown, freelance journalist

Cambridge

Hannah@two-cultures.com

European proposals to allow drug companies to provide health information are meeting strong opposition. Hannah Brown explains the arguments

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

When, in 2002, the European parliament voted resoundingly against allowing drug companies to provide information about their products directly to patients, public health lobby groups thought that the matter had been firmly dismissed. However, five years on, the resurgence of intense discussions about the "liberalisation of patient information," as the European Commission refers to it, suggests that parliament's resolve is set to be challenged again.

At issue is a set of proposals for relaxing the current laws that limit drug companies' communication with patients to the fixed format safety summary contained inside drug packaging. For the commission, which drafts European Union legislation, this debate is a trade-off between nurturing the competitiveness of one of the EU's biggest industries and respecting the concerns of public health organisations. What worries campaign groups most is that the commission seems to be ignoring them.

Hard lobbying by the drug industry has convinced the EU . . . [Full text of this article]


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Rapid Responses:

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When doctors get influenced, what chance do patients stand?
M Justin S Zaman
bmj.com, 5 Apr 2007 [Full text]
Re: When doctors get influenced, what chance do patients stand?
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