Redefining the Relationship between Medicine and the Pharmaceutical Industry
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Pharm Med 2009; 23 (4): 191-193 1178-2595/09/0004-0191/$49.95/0
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Redefining the Relationship between Medicine and the Pharmaceutical Industry New Ways of Working Susan M. Bews President, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, London, UK
Dusty shelf ? Doorstop? Dustbin? The Royal College of Physicians of London (RCP) is determined to ensure that their report Innovating For Health: Patients, Physicians, the Pharmaceutical Industry and the NHS,[1] issued earlier this year and now freely available on the web, will not follow the path of so many erudite reports. We are all now used to the concept of appraisal and being accountable for our actions at prespecified timepoints, but it is less usual for those responsible for producing reports. However, the RCP have boldly publicised that they will hold a conference early in 2011 to assess the success of their report and to measure the uptake and impact of the recommendations of the report. In other words, this is a report on which they are determined to see real action and will drive it through. So, what is so special about this report? The answer is a great deal, especially to those of us who work at the interface of the relationship between pharmaceutical medicine and healthcare professionals and patients. The recommendations of the report are intended to set the standards for those relationships for many years to come and to lay down new ways of working together that will enhance patient care. For many years, there has been both covert and overt criticism of the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare professionals, particularly the medical profession: ‘‘too cosy’’, ‘‘exerting undue influence’’, ‘‘profligate’’, are descriptors we have all heard. Whilst we may have disagreed vociferously and reminded the critics that it takes two to tango (as the UK Prescription Medicine Code of Practice Authority [PMCPA] described it), the perception (and at times, reality) has remained, and perception counts. Some have had a more enlightened view and realized that the pharmaceutical industry has an enormous amount to offer and that properly conducted and managed relationships are beneficial not just to the parties directly involved but to enhancing patient care – our raison d’etre. Professor Ian Gilmore, President of the RCP belongs to the latter group and whilst he considered that ‘‘Cooperation
between the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry is important and necessary at all stages of the development and use of medicines to secure safety of patients and efficacy of therapy y is uncontroversial’’,[2] he also recognized that there needed to be a fundamental review of the collaboration in order to enhance that relationship and maximize the contribution it makes to healthcare and patient welfare. Therefore, in September 2007, under the leadership of Professor Gilmore and chairmanship of Dr Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet and subsequent author of the report, the RCP set up a working par
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