MSD suspended from ABPI for three months
Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd has been suspended from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry for at least three months.
The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, which polices
the ABPI code of practice, found that MSD had offered services to improve
blood pressure control only to GP practices that used MSD’s Cozaar
(losartan) as their treatment of choice.
A former MSD representative reported
the company to the PMCPA after questioning
the scheme within the company. He alleged that representatives had been
told to use their acumen to circumvent the ABPI code.
The suspension was imposed after the investigation was reported to the
PMCPA appeal board and the ABPI management board. The precise length
of the suspension will depend on an audit of procedures introduced by
MSD to prevent a recurrence.
MSD Ltd’s managing director, Chris Round, said: “We are working
hard to reaffirm our core values and standards, and restore confidence
and pride in our business practices.”
This is not the first time that MSD methods for promoting Cozaar have
got it into trouble. At the end of last year, the company was found to
have misrepresented British Hypertension Society guidelines to make them
seem more favourable to Cozaar.
MSD is the second
company to be suspended from the ABPI since the introduction
of a tougher code of practice at the beginning of the year (PJ, 18 February,
p192). The only previous suspensions before that were of two companies
in 1994. |
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