Healthy Skepticism Library item: 15208

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: Journal Article

Dobson R.
Roche’s vouchers to patients breach regulatory code
BMJ 2009 Mar 3; 338:(7694):b899
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/338/mar03_3/b899

Abstract:

The pharmaceutical giant Roche has breached the British drug industry’s code of conduct with a scheme that provided shopping vouchers to young patients as an incentive to use one of the company’s products.

The scheme was described as “unacceptable” by the code of conduct panel of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, which found that Roche breached the code of practice in an adherence and incentive scheme for its cystic fibrosis drug dornase alfa (marketed as Pulmozyme).

“The panel was very concerned about a pharmaceutical company in effect providing cash as an incentive to patients to use its medicine,” says a report on the ruling, which followed a complaint from an anonymous Roche employee.

“The panel considered that once enrolled into the programme, and knowing about the £10 [11; $14] vouchers, patients would be likely to ask their doctor to prescribe Pulmozyme, and thus a breach of the . . .