Albumin industry launches global promotion

The plasma products industry has launched a £1.4m ($2.2m) international programme to promote albumin despite recent official advice to restrict its use to very limited indications. Albumin use has declined substantially following publication of a systematic review by the Cochrane Group, which raised serious concerns about the product's use in critically ill patients (BMJ 1998;317:235-40).

One year after publication of the review, the Committee on Safety of Medicines advised doctors to restrict its use to the treatment of hypovolaemia (BMJ 1999;318:1643). Internal industry documents passed to the BMJ outline an “albumin support” programme aimed at countering the “threats to …