Pharmacy on MA Code
August 6, 2014
PHARMACY bodies have
submitted to the Australian
Competition and Consumer
Commission (ACCC) about
Medicines Australia’s proposed 18th
Code of Conduct (PD 03 Jul).
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia
suggested that a monetary
threshold for reporting of payments
to healthcare professionals (HCPs)
should be included, determined in
consultation with stakeholders.
“It is our view that the threshold
proposal strikes the right balance
between providing transparency
regarding payments to HCPs and
minimising the potential for HCPs
to be discouraged from attending
educational and training events.”
A requirement should be added
that when HCPs received a payment
for a reportable activity above
a certain monetary threshold, a
mandatory condition should be that
the HCP consented to have personal
details publicly displayed and that if
they did not consent, the company
should inform them it could not
provide the payment, the Guild said.
The Pharmaceutical Society
of Australia (PSA) said it did not
support the supply of product
starter packs as it appeared that this
gave rise to medicines inadvertently
issued to consumers without
appropriate labels or information,
which could impact patient safety.
It recommended a pharmacist
member on the Monitoring
Committee and said it supported
the transparency model allowing
for “robust but pragmatic recording
arrangements” which meant
processes were not administratively
burdensome and that data
was meaningful for Australian
consumers.
It advocated for education
initiatives to educate pharmacists
and others about the transparency
model, it said.
The Society of Hospital
Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) said
it would support the application
of the transparency model across
all medicines manufacturers or
sponsors in Australia.
The SHPA said the Code should
include a section on the relationship
between pharmaceutical companies
and healthcare or employer
organisations mirroring the section
about individual HCPs.
CLICK HERE for the Guild
submission, HERE for the PSA’s and
HERE for the SHPA’s.
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