Pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca have announced that they have stopped their policy of paying for doctors to attend international medical conferences.
According to Dorsey & Whitney LLP, this move, unprecedented in the industry, is believed to be a reaction to the UK Bribery Act, which came into effect on 1st July, 2011.
AstraZeneca's CEO David Brennan announced the policy change at a industry conference in June.
“We have decided that we will no longer pay for doctors to attend international scientific and medical congresses but will instead focus our educational efforts on local educational opportunities for healthcare professionals,” he said.
In recent years, concern had grown about financial ties between doctors and the pharmaceutical industry, especially as healthcare costs have risen.
Experts believe this move will force other companies to make similar policy changes.
AstraZeneca's decision comes at a time of unprecedented scrutiny of the pharmaceutical industry. In the past five years, companies have paid more than US$15billion in penalties to the US government for alleged violations of laws and regulation.
Increased application of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) has led to numerous investigations within the industry, and with the introduction of the UK Bribery Act, many are expecting similar investigations in the UK.
Johnson & Johnson recently agreed to pay US$78 million to settle British and US charges that it paid bribes and kickbacks to win business overseas, in the first settlement by a big drug company since the US began investigating the industry under the FCPA over a year ago.
AstraZeneca is currently being investigated by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the FCPA.
Doctors can be considered government officials if they work for state-funded healthcare systems.
Sources: BMJ, Dorsey & Whitney LLP (Lexology), SRxA
For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.
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