Two pharmaceutical executives walk into a bar…. no, this is not the beginning of a joke. Employees of Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, had been having lunch with doctors after a medical congress. At the bar they alleged an anonymous complaint in the latest report by British industry 'watchdogs', for buying drinks for doctors. An executive was also dancing on stage calling on the bar staff to kick him out. Roche has authorized its executives to meet with doctors but not to buy drinks for them. But the evenings almost seem like the best moment in the history of the relationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies.
This relationship is a poorly regulated mess. On the one hand (benefit) companies work with doctors to create new treatments. On the other hand, companies bribe doctors to prescribe their medicines. The US Department of Justice has extorted huge severance pay from companies for this. In between these two poles is a lot of activity deemed normal by some, repugnant by others, and which is increasingly the subject of new laws.
This month, the US regulatory authorities published how to apply the so-called Sunshine law designed to improve transparency. France passed a similar law in 2011. In Britain, companies are planning voluntary communications. By 2015, more than 70% of drug sales will be made in countries with such measures, according to Deloitte, (consulting firm).
The US healthcare market, the largest in the world, is particularly busy. Pharmaceutical companies spent more than $24 billion on drug marketing to physicians in 2012, according to research firm Cegedim Strategig Data. 35% of doctors accept food, entertainment or travel from the pharmaceutical industry, according to a survey conducted by Deloitte last year, while 16% agree to talk about taxes. In most states, doctors take regular courses to maintain their licenses. In 2011, pharmaceutical and device companies sponsored nearly one-third of medical education monitored by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education.
Fears of undue influence have also been raised for some time. In 2008, two health industry groups established strict voluntary standards for companies. In 2009, the American Institute of Medicine, an advisory body, called for strict regulation to avoid conflicts of interest.
Legislative action, however, has been slow, particularly at the federal level. There Sunshine law, passed as part of Barack Obama's health care reform, represents the nation's first requirement for transparency. Pharmaceutical and device companies are required to report payments and transfers of "value" to physicians each year. They must also report research costs and interest on investments to physicians. The first submission will appear on a public database by 30 September 2014.
Other effects of the law know
