[e-drug] Australian Drs who accept pharma money must be named - ACCC

e-drug
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E-DRUG: Australian Drs who accept pharma money must be named - ACCC
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Australia's competition and consumer watchdog (ACCC) has demanded that drug
companies publicly name any doctor who accepts consultancy or speaker fees
or free travel and accommodation.

Unless this condition is complied with the ACCC will not authorise Medicines
Australia's latest Code of Conduct (edition 18):

http://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-proposes-to-strengthen-new-individ
ual-reporting-in-pharmaceutical-code

or (if it wraps) http://tinyurl.com/lm6zcay

In light of the U.S. Sunshine Act, the ACCC had previously limited
authorisation of the 17th edition of Medicines Australia Code to two years
(rather than the five years sought) in the expectation that this would allow
the industry to improve transparency provisions.

The 18th edition of Medicines Australia code merely "encourages" health-care
professionals to consent to disclosure, while allowing them to opt-out and
retain financial and other benefits of their interaction with pharmaceutical
companies.

Numerous submission to the ACCC from consumer groups and others argued that
this was not good enough; those who failed to agree to voluntary disclosure
were likely to be those we wanted to know most about.

https://theconversation.com/pharmaceutical-industry-code-of-conduct-fails-to
-find-favour-30404

or (if it wraps) http://tinyurl.com/olj9kja

The ACCC will seek submissions in relation to this draft determination before making its final decision.
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Dr Ken Harvey
Adjunct Associate Professor
School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
Monash University
http://www.medreach.com.au
"Ken Harvey" <k.harvey@medreach.com.au>

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E-DRUG: Transparency helps but falls way short -- See Deadly Medicines
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Naming who gets paid, how much, and perhaps for what is better than covert influence-peddling by companies to bias clinical judgement towards a company's products.

But to get a sense of how much greater the crisis in medicines is, you should read Peter Gotzsche's lively and fact-filled book, Deadly Medicines and Organized Crime: How Big Pharma has Corrupted Healthcare.

Here is a descriptive review in Health Affairs:
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/33/10/1875.full.pdf+html

Don