|
Samara region will see the activities of medical training with pharmaceutical companies involved put in order 18 November 2009 The Health and Social Development Minister of the Samara region and Deputy Chair of the region Government Vadim Kulichenko reported this on 16 November during the Second Regional Conference with international participants involved that was dedicated to topical issues of medical ethics.Within the conference frames, representatives of the healthcare community tackled upon the crucial and burning current problem of interrelations between physicians and profit agencies representatives, particularly, pharmaceutical companies and business producers of medical engineering. The meeting participants pointed out that the issue is significant for final consumers of medical services, since their interests may be violated while they receive quality and accessible (in all senses) medical and medicinal assistance.
As an example, Vladimir Karnaukh, Deputy Chair of the Ethics Committee at the regional Ministry of Health and Social Development, Director General of the Joint Stock Company ‘Medical Company IDK’, MD, took the well-known pharmaceutical companies as Serono, Pfizer and others to clearly demonstrate that physicians get commission fees for medicines they prescribe and write out drugs on the company letterhead paper prescriptions with the company logo on them; commercial entities pay overseas trips that have the so-called entertaining component in them as well as they make the services of speakers worth while for their camouflaged advertising of certain pharmaceuticals. When answering the long standing in history questions ‘Who’s to blame?’ and ‘Que Faire?’, Mr Karnaukh gave the most distinct answer: the management system is to blame, and it is necessary to keep to ethical rules and standards in order to resolve current problems. To expand on the subject, Vadim Kulichenko made a point of that the region will see the activities go on, during which every visit of pharmaceutical company representatives to medical treatment facilities will be regulated. The Minister explained that the Regional Committee on Ethics had made a decision to ban such representatives from entering the staff rooms in medical treatment facilities during working hours. That said, all gifts company representatives present health professionals with should be considered as creating a direct interest with them. ‘It doesn’t mean at all that the training with pharmaceutical companies involved should be stopped in the Samara region, the question is merely about regulating such activities’, the Health and Social Development Minister emphasized. ‘Since now, the visits of pharmaceutical company representatives to physicians in medical treatment facilities shall be sanctioned by the Deputy Head Doctor of the facility who is in charge of clinical work; meanwhile, the facility CEO will be aware of what will be discussed, and they will be personally responsible, should a non-ethical event of interaction between the representatives and physicians happen’. Irina Petrukhina |
