Healthy Skepticism Library item: 15373

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: news

Woodhead M.
More drug company dinners
6minutes (Australia) 2009 Mar 27
http://www.6minutes.com.au/dirplus/images/6minutes/newspluspharma/27_03_2009.pdf

Full text:

More doctors are going to more drug company sponsored events than ever before, the latest figures
(http://www.medicinesaustralia.com.au/pages/page136.asp) from industry group Medicines Australia show.

Data submitted by drug companies for the last half of 2008 show that they sponsored 18,060 educational events such as seminars, conferences and symposia for doctors and other health care professionals in Australia. This represents an almost 24% increase on the 14,633 events reported by the MA members for the previous year.

Attendances at drug company events were up 14% from 385,221 in the second half of 2007 to 444,724 last year. The total cost of hospitality remained about the same at $16million, and the cost of
hospitality per head was down slightly from $43 per head in 2007 to $37 per head last year.

The pharmaceutical industry group has published reports from member companies giving details of all individual sponsored events,which covered not just doctors but also nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers.

Medicines Australia chief executive Ian Chalmers said pharma companies “remained committed to providing healthcare professionals with balanced and accurate information about medicines.“

He said all educational events were subject to a strict Code of Conduct, which banned gifts, entertainment and lavish hospitality for doctors. More than 99.9 per cent of educational events provided or sponsored by member companies in 2007-08 were compliant with the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct, he said.