Healthy Skepticism Library item: 19880

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Magazine

Baker S
Drug industry pledges greater self scrunity
New Zealand Doctor News 1994 July 74

Full text:

An independent complaints committee is being set up to administer the Researched Medicines Industry’s new code of practice.

The Code of Practice Standing Committee will have a practising judge, solicitor or QC as chairperson and will include medical and pharmacy representatives as well as two industry members.

RMI president Ken Linke said the committee, which is expected to be up and running by September, will make the settling of complaints about the industry more open to scrutiny.

“I think one of the motivations behind reviewing the code at this time was to ensure that this industry can self regulate in a realistic manner”, he said.

However, while the industry is trying to prove it is capable of regulating itself, the Ministry of Health is proposing additional restrictions on the promotion of medicines and devices in its draft of the Medicines Bill.

These would prohibit companies from advertising prescription or psychotropic drugs directly to the public, or distributing medicines or devices directly to the public for promotional purposes.

The proposed Bill would also outlaw financial inducements to prescribers or suppliers (such as pharmacists) and restrict the level of hospitality the industry could provide.

Mr Linke said the RMI would prefer marketing practices in the industry to continue to be self regulated rather than having to be covered by legislation.

He said to this end the RMI consulted widely when drafting its code of practice, including asking for comments from sections of the Ministry.

Mr Linke said he is hopeful the Ministry, the profession and the public will be happy with the RMI’s approach.

“I’m pretty positive when they see how we are operating and see that there’s an opportunity for their input, people will be satisfied with what we are doing”.

No cash gifts allowed

Mr Linke said the RMI will be discussing the current draft of the Medicines Act with the Ministry of Health.

As proposed in the Medicines Act review, the new RMI code of practice forbids cash gifts to the medical profession.

However, one of its principles states: “Gifts or hospitality may be offered to members of the medical and allied professions providing they are inexpensive and/or educational and relevant to the practice of medicine or pharmacy and are not given on the explicit condition and understanding that establishing patterns of prescribing will alter”.

The original draft rejected by RMI members at their AGM in March, defined “inexpensive” as having a value up to $20. All reference to dollar values have been removed from the final code and for gifts or prizes of “educational” value there is no value limitation at all.

Mr Linke said the RMI and all of the groups it consulted were unable to reach a consensus on a practical value limit for gifts and prizes.

“I think where we tried to place the emphasis was on the intention with which gifts are given”, he said.

He said in drafting the code the industry is trying to encourage gift or prize giving that is of educational or practical medical value.

“We still don’t walk away from the value issue. Gifts and hospitality still have to be reasonable and the independent committee will have to determine what is reasonable and what the company’s intention was in any given case”, said Mr Linke.

Earlier this year, the Pharmaceutical Management Agency, Pharmac, criticised the RMI’s original draft as lacking teeth.

The new code provides a variety of sanctions where complaints are upheld, including orders to suspend or discontinue an advertisement or practice, orders to publish corrective letters and fines up to $10,000.

In addition: “A statistical summary and a list of serious breaches and frivolous complaints, as determined by the [standing committee], will be published in the RMI Annual Report and every six months in the New Zealand Medical Journal”, says the new code.

Pharmac general manager David Moore said it will be monitoring how effectively the pharmaceutical industry regulates its marketing practices and whether it does this openly.

“We want to make sure marketing of drugs is ethical in both the narrow sense of telling the truth and also in that it works in the wider interests of New Zealanders”, he said.

Mr Moore said Pharmac is currently developing a master supply contract between pharmaceutical companies and itself which will include clauses on marketing.