OPINION
Advocates PH
EDITORIAL: Mexico City Principles
Photo credit: PHAP Website
The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) will soon have to call out its ranks especially those who are actively in the biopharmaceutical sector following information that Advocates Philippines received about a company that employs Multi-Level Marketing like tactics to improve their sales and provide their doctor-members cash incentives to boost their products.
Doctors from Bicol, Laguna, Quezon, Metro Manila, and even Visayas and Mindanao were reported to be high in the pyramiding scale and are now packing their bags for trips to Europe and Asia. It’s common practice for pharmaceutical companies to offer certain benefits to successful doctors who prescribe to their brands, but information that we obtained showed questionable prescriptions with patients.
A source said that patients are given products that boost Colostrum. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Colostrum is the first form of breastmilk that is released by the mammary glands after giving birth. It's nutrient-dense and high in antibodies and antioxidants to build a newborn baby's immune system. It changes to breast milk within two to four days after your baby is born. Colostrum is thicker and more yellow than traditional breast milk.”
However, the source said the colostrum booster is not only expensive but patients are required to consume more than the recommended doses.
Medical Doctors who are part of this scheme are reminded to abide by the Mexico City Principles or the Voluntary Codes of Business Ethics in the Biopharmaceutical Sector. The PHAP has a 13-page document about these ethical standards (https://www.phap.org.ph/pdf/apec-the_mexico_city_principles-final.pdf) but we would like to highlight them here as well.
The Mexico City Principles state the five most important following points:
1. Interactions between Companies and healthcare professionals provide valuable scientific, clinical, product, and policy information about medicines that may lead to improved patient care.
2. All interactions with healthcare professionals are to be conducted in a professional and ethical manner; Healthcare professionals must not be improperly influenced by Companies.
3. No medicines shall be promoted for use in a specific economy until the requisite approval for marketing for such use has been given in that economy. Promotion should be consistent with locally approved product information.
4. Companies will report adverse events or adverse drug reactions to regulatory authorities, subject to applicable laws and regulations.
5. Payments in cash or cash equivalents (such as gift certificates) or gifts for the personal benefit of healthcare professionals should not be provided or offered to healthcare professionals.
The fifth sentence in this list is something that they should not consciously use as part of their profession given that individual lives are at stake and that patients are put at a considerable risk.
This editorial is a plea to PHAP to rectify this problem as Filipinos are being treated to a scheme that is extremely unethical.
Next week’s editorial will be a guide for patients and what to watch out for when consulting with doctors to avoid being victims of the MLM style in the pharmaceutical industry.
Doctors from Bicol, Laguna, Quezon, Metro Manila, and even Visayas and Mindanao were reported to be high in the pyramiding scale and are now packing their bags for trips to Europe and Asia. It’s common practice for pharmaceutical companies to offer certain benefits to successful doctors who prescribe to their brands, but information that we obtained showed questionable prescriptions with patients.
A source said that patients are given products that boost Colostrum. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Colostrum is the first form of breastmilk that is released by the mammary glands after giving birth. It's nutrient-dense and high in antibodies and antioxidants to build a newborn baby's immune system. It changes to breast milk within two to four days after your baby is born. Colostrum is thicker and more yellow than traditional breast milk.”
However, the source said the colostrum booster is not only expensive but patients are required to consume more than the recommended doses.
Medical Doctors who are part of this scheme are reminded to abide by the Mexico City Principles or the Voluntary Codes of Business Ethics in the Biopharmaceutical Sector. The PHAP has a 13-page document about these ethical standards (https://www.phap.org.ph/pdf/apec-the_mexico_city_principles-final.pdf) but we would like to highlight them here as well.
The Mexico City Principles state the five most important following points:
1. Interactions between Companies and healthcare professionals provide valuable scientific, clinical, product, and policy information about medicines that may lead to improved patient care.
2. All interactions with healthcare professionals are to be conducted in a professional and ethical manner; Healthcare professionals must not be improperly influenced by Companies.
3. No medicines shall be promoted for use in a specific economy until the requisite approval for marketing for such use has been given in that economy. Promotion should be consistent with locally approved product information.
4. Companies will report adverse events or adverse drug reactions to regulatory authorities, subject to applicable laws and regulations.
5. Payments in cash or cash equivalents (such as gift certificates) or gifts for the personal benefit of healthcare professionals should not be provided or offered to healthcare professionals.
The fifth sentence in this list is something that they should not consciously use as part of their profession given that individual lives are at stake and that patients are put at a considerable risk.
This editorial is a plea to PHAP to rectify this problem as Filipinos are being treated to a scheme that is extremely unethical.
Next week’s editorial will be a guide for patients and what to watch out for when consulting with doctors to avoid being victims of the MLM style in the pharmaceutical industry.
Oct 28, 2022
