Pharmaceutical companies must cease using promotional gifts, hospitality and funding of professional development programmes to market to medical professionals, according to a report that has been met with mixed reactions by various sections of the marketing industry.
The report, titled ‘Innovating for health: Patients, physicians, the pharmaceutical industry and the NHS' was released by a working party with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) at its helm, and calls for greater transparency in the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and medical professionals.
The 42 key recommendations made by the group aim to address patient's distrust in the doctor-pharmaceutical company relationship. Suggestions include ‘measures to restore patient confidence in medical independence', after the sampling indicated patient unease with the perceived close relationship between some doctors and pharmaceutical companies; and ‘decoupling the pharmaceutical industry from continuing professional development', to address ‘the widespread suspicions that drug promotion is carried out through continuing professional development'.
The report has come as a surprise to most industries affected, as a fairly regimented code is already in place, limiting gifts to those of practical use, with a value of no more than £6, and restrictions on hospitality. Major brands, including Pfizer, have already withdrawn their professional development funding programmes.
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