UK Sunshine Act: ABPI Updating Code of Practice to Enhance Transparency in Relationships Between Pharmaceuticals and Health Care Professionals, Scotland May File a Sunshine Bill
Member companies of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) have agreed to amend the ABPI Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry to require increased disclosure of payments within the healthcare community. ABPI recently released a statement highlighting the importance of greater transparency in the relationships between the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare professionals.
The Chief Executive of ABPI, Stephen Whitehead, stated: “These relationships are proper and play a vital part in ensuring healthcare professionals understand the detail of new medicines to support future research and development and improve the quality of patient care.” Mr. Whitehead added that changes to the Code constitute the industry’s attempt to address the “common misunderstanding around the nature of [industry’s] relationship with healthcare professionals.” (Full statement available here).
ABPI’s statements come on the heels of the Ethical Standards in Health & Life Sciences Group’s (EDHLSG) recent survey among doctors and drug industry workers, which showed overwhelming support for public disclosure. The study revealed that almost 90% of the 1,055 respondents agreed that payments to individually-named healthcare professionals by companies should be transparent and publicly declared. Furthermore, 79% of respondents to the survey agreed that the system of disclosure should be “a single, publicly searchable, central database.” The entire survey can be viewed here.
The current ABPI Code of Practice places an emphasis on transparency, including requirements to make publicly available certain financial details regarding pharmaceutical sponsored meetings (Clause 19) and the use of health professional consultants (Clause 20). The 2012 Code can be downloaded on ABPI’s website. However, the most significant updates to the previous Code relate to the amount of detail needed in the disclosure, the fact that indirect, like-kind payments must be included in the disclosure, and that all such payments from pharmaceutical companies to healthcare professionals may be available in a searchable record. ABPI reports that following a conference, likely in summer 2014, the 2015 Code of Practice will include requirements about the specific method of disclosure.
In the United States, under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act Final Rule (Open Payments), applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations are required to report all payments and transfers of value to physicians and teaching hospitals to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Open Payments website posting process, which can be accessed by the public, is expected to begin in September 2014 and will include all ownership or investment interests held by a doctor or family member. Policy and Medicine has published numerous articles on the Sunshine Act, which can be accessed here.
The UK is not the only country interested in following the United States’ lead in the Sunshine Act’s transparency requirements. Stirling Observer reports that Dr. Gordon of Scotland is putting forth a petition, calling on the Scottish Government to create a searchable record of all payments from pharmaceutical companies. In referencing the UK’s efforts in disclosure, Dr. Gordon stated: “Last year it was revealed for the first time £40 million was paid to healthcare workers in the UK by the pharmaceutical industry. An estimate has been made that £4 million of that was to Scottish healthcare workers.”
With new public disclosures revealing this type of pharmaceutical industry data, it is likely that other European countries will be looking more closely at how they regulate relationships between the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare professionals.