Pharmaceutical companies

Doctor and pharmacist payments by pharma revealed in database

An online database of payments and benefits in kind made by the pharmaceutical industry to doctors, pharmacists and nurses was published for the first time on 30 June 2016, enabling the public to see how individual professionals are paid by the pharmaceutical industry.…

Nurofen TV advertisement banned by advertising watchdog

The advertising watchdog has banned a TV advertisement for one of the UK’s biggest painkiller brands, Nurofen, because it falsely claims that the product could specifically target joint and back pain.…

Astellas UK suspended from ABPI following ‘deception on a grand scale’

Astellas UK’s membership of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has been suspended for a year following complaints about a meeting organised for 100 clinicians in Europe that broke the industry’s code of practice.…

Doctors who accept industry lunches prescribe more promoted drugs

Doctors who accept free meals from the pharmaceutical industry have higher prescribing rates for the branded drugs the manufacturers promote, according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine.…

RPS president endorses disclosure of payments by pharmaceutical companies

Ash Soni, president of the RPS, supports the ABPI’s launch of a public database that will disclose payments made to UK healthcare professionals by pharmaceutical companies. …

How full disclosure of clinical trial data will benefit the pharmaceutical industry

Disclosing clinical trial data is a step in the right direction towards transparency, which benefits both the public and the pharmaceutical industry.…

Counterfeit medicines are a growing threat to global health, WHO meeting hears

Substandard and counterfeit medicines pose a growing threat to global health and greater global efforts are needed to counter the problem, experts have warned at an international forum.  …

Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry warns against Brexit

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has called for the UK to remain in the European Union, saying that EU membership enhances patients’ access to innovative clinical research.…

Healthcare professionals want transparency around fees received from pharmaceutical companies

Most healthcare professionals believe that details of payments they receive from the pharmaceutical industry should be made known to the public, but there are concerns that the information could be misinterpreted.…

NICE draft guidance recommends PCSK9 inhibitors for high risk cardiovascular patients

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the UK’s cost-effectiveness body, has recommended two new cholesterol-lowering drugs for certain adults with primary hypercholesterolaemia or mixed dyslipidaemia who are at extremely high risk of heart attacks and strokes.…