E-drug: Re: New leadership in WHO (9)
----------------------------------------------------------
I believe our expectations should be adjusted to what we already know of the
performance and attitudes of the new leadership of WHO. Gro Harlem
Brundtland led the cabinet that negotiated the collaboration treaty between
Norway and the European Union.
As you may know, Norway had a state wholesale monopoly for drugs, providing
invaluable statistics and supporting industry-independent information and
research, as well as the WHO collaborating center for drug statistics
methodology.
Norway also had the famous need clause, which provided the legal background
for rejecting superfluous me-too drugs, superfluous synonyms and superfluous
but essentially rational combination drugs.
All this was abandoned without resistance during the negotiations with the EU.
Norway is now being flooded with nonessential products. National drug
policy has virtually disappeared. This has been strengthened by the new
leadership in the Medicines Control Authority, which focuses more on
technical quality control than on medical considerations and assessments.
In summary: GHB has been responsible for the dismantling of the Norwegian
regulatory system. I will be very surprised if we will see any positive
surprises in the drug sector. It strengthens my arguments that she,
according to the reviewers of her autobiography, never admits to having done
any mistake. This has also been evident from her performance in TV and radio
debates.
Gaut Gadeholt
Rikshospitalet, Norway
E-mail: gaut@online.no, gaut@mailexcite.com, gaut.gadeholt@labmed.uio.no
--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.