E-drug: Further dirty tricks in Australia: the battle continues
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Dear Colleagues,
On August 5 2001, the Australian NINE NETWORK TV SUNDAY
PROGRAM, screened a cover story about "Doctors, Drug marketing,
e-Scripts and the PBS". See:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/cover_stories/article_896.asp
Many thanks to Larry Sasich, Public Citizens' Health Research
Group, Washington DC and Steve Findlay, US National Institute of
Health Care Management, for supporting their Australian colleagues
on this program.
This program showed lavish hospitality being afforded to doctors by
several drug companies for "educational" events that would appear
to be in breach of Section 7.3 of the Australian Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers Association Code of Conduct: "7.3 The symposia's
focus should be on scientific and medical matters and hospitality
should be kept to a minimum level".
In addition, the program showed pharmaceutical advertisements
appearing on an electronic 'script pad (MEDICAL DIRECTOR) at the
time of medical decision-making. Pharmaceutical advertising is not
allowed in Australia on government supplied printed prescription
pads, presumably because it is recognised that such information
largely promotes the latest and most expensive drugs, rarely
promotes generic drugs and never promotes non-drug solutions.
However, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration &/or the
Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Code of
Conduct is yet to regulate (or address) this new practice on
electronic 'script pads.
Furthermore, the Australian market leader prescribing software
(MEDICAL DIRECTOR) comes with an automatic default, "NO
GENERIC SUBSTITUTION ALLOWED". The manual government
supplied script pad leaves this decision up to the doctor on each
individual patient, taking into account patient preferences, their
financial situation, etc.
Finally, the NINE TV program alleged that the Australian
government has subsidised prescribing software (containing
pharmaceutical advertisements) with taxpayers money (via practice
incentive payments) but laid down no standards for this software
with respect to the presence or absence of advertisements, the
quality of the drug databases or the decision-support algorithms
used.
I would be interested in what is happening in other countries in this
regard.
Players in this Australian battle include:
Dr. Michael Wooldridge, Federal Minister for Health,
E-mail: Michael.Wooldridge.MP@aph.gov.au
Mr. Alan H. Evans, Chief Executive Officer, Australian
Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers Association
E-mail: alan.evans@apma.com.au
Ms. Jenny Macklin, Shadow Federal Minister for Health
E-mail: Jenny.Macklin.MP@aph.gov.au
Mr. Terry Slater, National Manager, Therapeutic Goods
Administration, DHAC
E-Mail: terry.slater@health.gov.au
Mr. Brett Lennon, Assistant Secretary, Pharmaceutical Benefits
Branch, DHAC
E-mail: brett.lennon@health.gov.au
Mr. Ross Coulthart, Reporter, Nine Network, Sunday Program
E-mail: rcoulthart@nine.com.au
Cheers
Ken
Dr. Ken Harvey, MB BS, FRCPA, MASM
Council Member, Australian Consumers Association
(http://www.choice.com.au)
Board Member, Therapeutic Guidelines Ltd. (http://www.tg.com.au)
35 Mary St., Hawthorn, Vic, 3122
Telephone/Fax (61 3) 9818 1875, Mobile 0419 181910
E-mail: k.harvey@bigpond.net.au
Internet: http://www-sph.health.latrobe.edu.au/kharvey/
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