Pharmaceutical Industry-Based Medical Information in Canada
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PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY-BASED MEDICAL INFORMATION IN CANADA LAWRENCE HOUGH,BSCPHM,MBA Director, Medical Services & Drug Surveillance, Pharmacia Corp, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
LYNNCAMPBELL, BSCPHM Manager, Medical Information & Clinical Drug Safety, SmithKline Beecham, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
The medical information departments within the Canadian pharmaceutical industry have experienced a steady increase in demand over the pastfive years. Consumers are becoming more sophisticated, resourceful, and demanding of information regarding their health conditions and treatment options. Consumers are being bombarded with information on a variety of conditions and treatments with herbal, over-the-countec or prescription products. This information is partially driven by the industry and the media. The result is at times confused consumers, but always consumers who demand more information. This creates a ripple effect within the health care continuum, which results in an increase in information requests from physicians, pharmacists, and consumers. Canadian pharmaceutical medical information departments have changed and are continuing to evolve in response to the increasing level of demand for information. Ten years ago, information requests that came in from health care professionals may have been handled by a medical information specialist, a medical directoc or a product manager on an ad-hoc basis. Many companies would refuse to respond to consumer inquiries at all. Currently, most pharmaceutical companies have a designated medical information specialist/associate or department to deal with inquiries. In recognizing that the push for information is being driven by consumers, many companies are now responding to consumer inquiries with a basic level of information, but still referring them back to their health care professional to get thorough, unbiased, knowledgeable advice regarding their condition and the appropriateness of the various therapies available. Key Words: Medical information; Canada; Consumer
THE CANADIAN PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET Is TRUE THE rest Of the the Canadian pharmaceutical market is going through a time of growth and consolidation. Mergers are a constant part of the pharma-
Reprint address: Lawrence Hough, BScPhm, MBA, Director, Medical Services & Drug Surveillance, Pharmacia COT, 5100 Spectrum Way, Mississauga, - Ontario, Canada LAW 5J5.
ceutical world. This can cause additional confusion for health care professionals as they attempt to search for information on a product that was developed by a company three mergers ago. This also places an additional burden on medical information professionals as they need to also be historians to maintain information on products from previous mergers. Canadian pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) jobs have increased 269% since 1987, demonstrating a commitment
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