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Medical education event audit results - September 2008

Friday September 26, 2008

Medicines Australia today issued the results of the 2nd Medical Education Event audit, in accordance with the ACCC requirements. The second audit covers the six month period from 1 January - 30 June, 2008.

Pfizer Australia has received formal notification from Medicines Australia that of our 1,628 events held in this reporting period, 2 have been referred to MA's Code of Conduct Committee for further consideration. At this point, we do not know whether or not these events will be found to be in breach of the Code of Conduct.

Educational events are important for keeping doctors, pharmacists and nurses up-to-date with what is new about our medicines. Medical education is critical to patient safety and it is fundamental to the quality use of medicines. As outlined in the Government's National Strategy for Quality Use of Medicines, industry plays a key role in providing good quality, accurate, balanced information and education services to health professionals to support the appropriate use of our medicines.

Providing health care professionals with a meal as part of their education is often necessary, because events can only be conducted before or after surgery hours. However, the community has a right to expect that the way these events are supported by pharmaceutical companies is appropriate.

Pfizer Australia is totally committed to greater transparency and disclosure of all expenses associated with educational meetings and the MA Code of Conduct. We support the industry's efforts at addressing community concerns.

We will make every effort to ensure that our future medical education events do not breach the MA Code of Conduct.