Healthy Skepticism Library item: 19444

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Publication type: news

Besser L
Regulator fails to keep register of drug company gifts
The Sydney Morning Herald 2011 Jan 3
http://www.smh.com.au/national/regulator-fails-to-keep-register-of-drug-company-gifts-20110102-19d2e.html

Full text:

THE federal government has failed to maintain a register of the gifts and benefits provided to its Health Department officials by multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical companies.

Officials working for the Therapeutic Goods Administration provide advice and make decisions on which drugs to license for use in Australia.

Their decisions can be worth millions of dollars to drug companies seeking access to the Australian market for health products that may have been established overseas.

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But while the administration has issued strict guidelines for when staff can accept a gift or benefit from pharmaceutical companies, it has no central ledger to records which offers have been made, which companies have made them and when they have been accepted.

The lobbying by pharmaceutical companies is legendary. Doctors have long been the target of well-resourced marketing campaigns that have included all-expenses-paid tickets to lavish conferences and education program sponsorships.

In the United States, a new law means pharmaceutical and other medical companies will have to publicly report the gifts, payments and other benefits they provide to doctors and hospitals from 2013.

Australia has no such transparency provisions, but usually federal agencies maintain a register of the gifts received from third-party donors.

The Department of Defence, for example, updates a vast list each year that takes in hospitality and gifts to senior military and civilian personnel.

In November, the Herald sought to access the same such register for the TGA. In a freedom of information application, it sought ‘‘details of all gifts, hospitality, travel, entertainment or other benefits provided to Therapeutic Goods Administration staff by entities other than the TGA itself, over the past five years’‘.

The request was refused on the basis that no such record exists.

‘‘The relevant electronic databases and corporate file lists in the TGA have been searched, and the documents sought in your request cannot be found or do not exist,’‘ Kim Loveday, administration’s chief operating officer, told the Herald.

By contrast, Medicare Australia keeps a register in its national office of all such gifts worth more than $100.

But a TGA spokeswoman, Kay McNiece, told the Herald a register would be maintained following the Herald’s inquiries.

‘‘With regard to an official register of gifts and benefits, there used to be one held in the office, but on looking for this as a result of your request, it has not been updated for some time,’‘ she said.

‘‘The TGA thanks you for drawing attention to this and this register is being reactivated immediately.

‘‘As the TGA receives a number of overseas delegations each year or employees travel to other countries where official gifts are given and received, all such gifts must be notified to the chief operating officer and, in most cases, these gifts are put on display throughout the TGA foyers.

‘‘Gifts … under the value of $50 can only be accepted by staff after taking into consideration the gifts and benefits guidelines and after receiving clearance from a unit or branch head.’‘

Do you know more?

investigations@smh.com.au