E-drug: Australian PBAC troubles (cont)
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A CLOUD HANGS OVER NATIONAL DRUGS BODY
The Age [Editorial] Saturday 3 February 2001
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/2001/02/03/FFXGN6B7PIC.html
The Howard Government's overhaul of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory
Committee might simply be a necessary and timely upgrading of a body in need
of some new blood and fresh perspectives. That is certainly what the
government wants us to think. But the decision to appoint Pat Clear, a
former chief executive of the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
Association, which is the main lobby group for the big drug makers, has
caused deep consternation within the committee. Several committee members,
including outgoing chairman Don Birkett, have expressed concern about Mr
Clear's appointment. This follows the dumping of other members, who served
on the committee under Professor Birkett, in what some claim has been a
government-inspired rout of the advisory body. Those who oppose Mr Clear's
appointment argue that it is wrong in principle and practice for someone who
has previously been devoted to advancing the interests of drug manufacturers
to then move on to the committee. This is because the committee is entrusted
with acting as a sort of pharmaceutical gatekeeper, standing between the
public purse and the multinational drug companies.
The committee decides which drugs should be listed on the
government-subsidised drug scheme that operates as part of Medicare.
Inclusion on the list can channel many millions of taxpayer dollars into the
coffers of the companies. Understandably, the companies are anxious for
their products to be bought up by the government and grow impatient if the
committee's deliberations result in delays or refusals to add them to the
Medicare drug list. It is the politicking and other pressure tactics that
can follow that some former members now claim could have an influence on the
committee.
Mr Clear, as well as being the former head of the industry's chief lobby
group, was also for 15 years the pharmaceutical director of the drug company
Wellcome Australia, now known as Glaxo-Wellcome. His background as a
knowledgeable and influential player in the drug industry is unquestioned.
Regardless of his credentials and knowledge, his appointment was sure to
become contentious. Health Minister Michael Wooldridge would have known this
because a government review last year looked at the issue of including
representatives of the pharmaceutical industry on the committee and came
down against it. The public contributes substantial amounts of money to
Medicare and it is essential that the system that determines which drugs can
be added to the subsidised list is beyond reproach and is seen to be beyond
reproach. This week's resignations and public criticisms cast doubt on the
efficacy of the government's revamping of the committee.
Reprinted under the fair use doctrine
of international copyright law:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
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Dr. Ken Harvey, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health,
Room 221, Building HS1 (NW9),
La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3086, Australia,
Telephone +61 3 9479 5773,
Facsimile +61 3 9479 1783,
Personal mobile 0419 181910,
Internet: http://www-sph.health.latrobe.edu.au/kharvey/
"Ken Harvey" <k.harvey@latrobe.edu.au>
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