The rules at play
Legislative Decree 196/2003 (Privacy Code – articles 11 and 15). The articles in question stipulate that the personal data being processed must: a) be treated in a lawful and correct manner; b) collected and recorded for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes, e used in other processing operations in terms compatible with such purposes; c) accurate and, if necessary, updated; d) relevant, complete e not excessive in relation to the purposes for which they are collected or subsequently treated; e) kept in a form which permits identification of the interested party for a period of time not exceeding that necessary for the purposes for which they were collected or subsequently treated. Data processed in violation of the privacy rules will not may be used. Any violation of the aforementioned rules makes non-pecuniary damage compensable, while any damage determined by the incorrect processing of personal data is compensated to pursuant to article 2050 of the civil code.
Civil Code, article 2050 (Liability for the exercise of dangerous activities). Anyone who causes harm to others in the performance of a dangerous activity, by its nature or by the nature of means used, he is obliged to pay compensation, if he does not prove that he has taken all appropriate measures to avoid the damage. Legislative Decree 219/2006 (articles 113, I 19 and 122). The cited articles single out as advertising of medicinal products to persons authorized to prescribe them or to exempt them from the visit of scientific representatives; the provision of samples of medicines; the incitement to prescribe or supply medicines by granting, offering or promising benefits pecuniary or in kind, with the exception of objects of intrinsic value negligible; the sponsorship of promotional meetings; the patronage of scientific congresses and related hospitality expenses. They also establish that in January of each year each pharmaceutical company must communicate, on a regional basis, AIFA the number of health professionals visited by their scientific representatives in the previous year, specifying the average number of visits made: Always a January of each year each company must also communicate to AIFA the list of scientific representatives used the year before, indicating also educational qualification and type of employment contract used.
