Pharma industry revises ethics provisions
Code affects interactions with physicians
"In interacting with the medical community, we are committed to following the highest ethical standards, as well as all legal requirements. We are also concerned that our interactions with health care professionals not be perceived as inappropriate by patients or the public at large. This Code is to reinforce our intention that our interactions with health care professionals are professional exchanges designed to benefit patients and to enhance the practice of medicine."
— PhRMA's Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) board in early July adopted a revised version of its Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals – revisions that will end distribution of the ubiquitous pens, mugs, and notepads and stop sales reps from providing restaurant meals to physicians and staff.
The revised code becomes effective in January 2009. The code was last revised in 2002.
A news release from the organization also said that the revised code "also affirms and strengthens previous statements that companies should not provide any entertainment or recreational benefits to health care professionals."
Included in the revised code are provisions that require companies to ensure their sales reps are trained in all applicable laws and regulations, as well as the provisions of the updated PhRMA Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals.
New code requires executive certification
The new code requires company CEOs and compliance officers to certify each year that they have a process in place to comply with the code. These officers also are "encouraged to get external verification periodically" that they have such processes in place.
"The problem that we have is [the] perception that a lot of the public [sees] the gifts and some of the things that are done [for physicians] in a negative light, and because of that, the academy wants to make sure that our members are looked upon as doing the right thing," says Jim King, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Practitioners (AAFP) in Leawood, KS.
King says he expects both members of his organization and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that make up the PhRMA to abide by the revised code provisions.
Additional revisions made
Other additions to the code include more detailed standards regarding the independence of continuing medical education; principles on the responsible use of nonpatient identified prescriber data; and additional guidance for speaking and consulting arrangements with healthcare professionals, including disclosure requirements for health care providers who are members of committees that set formularies or develop clinical practice guidelines and who also serve as speakers or consultants for a pharmaceutical company.
For example, in its guidelines on consultants, the PhRMA suggests that "token consulting or advisory arrangements should not be used to justify compensating health care professionals for their time or their travel, lodging, and other out-of-pocket expenses."
"Companies should continue to ensure that consultant arrangements are neither inducements nor rewards for prescribing or recommending a particular medicine or course of treatment," the code states.
Source
For more information, contact:
- Jim King, MD, President, American Academy of Family Physicians, P.O. Box 11210, Shawnee Mission, KS 66207-1210. Phone: (913) 906-6000.
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