Big pharma big spend
March 30, 2016
MAJOR pharmaceutical
companies invested heavily in some
specialist medical groups last year,
with a spend bill of more than
$43 million, according to a Fairfax
analysis of Medicines Australia
figures published today.
Six oncologists were funded to
the tune of $70,000 attending a
conference in Sweden, while nine
dermatologists cost $176,000
to attend educational events in
Vancouver.
Catering and travel expenses
were funded by pharmaceutical
companies on 14,872 occasions
between Apr and Sep 2015, for
events ranging from lunch meetings
to all-expenses paid international
travel with conference expenses.
The report identifies a range of
big spenders including Novartis,
Amgen and Pfizer, with criticism
flowing from health activist Ken
Harvey and Australian Consumers
Health Forum chief executive
officer Leanne Wells.
Wells said she was concerned
the wealth of pharmaceutical
companies could influence the
prescribing decisions and their
assessments of drugs.
Harvey, Wells and others continue
to call for greater transparency
around pharmaceutical company
funding for health professionals.
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