HLST 3015 : Pharmaceuticals
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Pharmaceuticals (HLST 3015)
Added on 2020-05-04
HLST 3015 : Pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceuticals (HLST 3015)
Added on 2020-05-04
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Running head: POLICY RESEARCH ESSAYPOLICY RESEARCH ESSAY: CHALLENGES OF CANADIAN PHARMACEUTICALPOLICYName of the StudentName of the AuthorAuthor Note
1POLICY RESEARCH ASSAYCanadian pharmaceutical policy involves both provincial and federal levels ofGovernment. The federal Government is involved in the manufacturer’s intellectual propertyrights, initial approval, prescription drugs labeling and looking after the competitive nature of theoverall market. The provincial government on the other hand has jurisdiction and responsibilityof the healthcare facilities funding, including the pharmaceuticals (Daw & Morgan, 2012). Thefederal government regulates the prices of drugs, but does not buy the drugs. The provincialgovernment has no power over market pricing and competitiveness (Ridic, Gleason & Ridic,2012).However, one issue that is associated with pharmaceutical policies is the non-disclosureof payments to doctors by the drug or pharmaceutical companies (Stamatakis, Weiler &Ioannidis, 2013). A lack of transparency was observed, when the pharmaceutical companiesmade payment disclosures. It is necessary for the federal government to take immediateresponsibility of the issue and ask the companies to provide a list of the doctors who receivedpayments from the drug companies and what were the amounts paid. This policy research essaywill provide information about Canadian pharmaceutical policies and provide analysis of theabove mentioned issue.This essay at first determine the history of the policy challenge, provide an overview ofthe current policies and provides recommendations from the research carried out.Pharmaceutical or drug companies develop relationships with physicians, doctors andother healthcare workers in order to generate business through them by utilization of a variety ofprocesses (Bending, 2015). These include giving gifts, personal services, entertainment and evenpayments. These activities have a significant potential for generation of abuse and fraud (Mackey
2POLICY RESEARCH ASSAY& Liang, 2012). Moreover, the companies do not disclose these payments made to the doctors.Patients also remain in the dark about the illegal payments of pharmaceutical companies todoctors. This results in prescribing drugs by the doctors that are highly expensive and sometimesare not associated with proper approvals by the FDA (Choi, 2015). This affects the patientsmonetarily as well as unapproved drugs may cause harm to the patients in the long run.Moreover, a non-disclosure of such payments is considered unethical and also prevents theinvolvements of patients in clinical trials. There are a number of evidences that can be unearthed from the past regarding physicianpayments that are not disclosed by pharmaceutical companies. Both companies as well asmedical practitioners believe that development of relationship between the medical professionalsand pharmaceutical companies will help in the development of academic research. Theseacademic research can later be translated into drug development (Board, 2012). However,various malpractices are carried out, where the drug companies pay the medical professionalslike doctors but do not disclose these payments to the government and the public in general. Acertain level of transparency is to be maintained so that the public also come to know about thedealings between these organizations. Previously, such events have taken place and are describedhere. In 1976, in Canada, there were reports of high costs related to pharmaceutical industry.Moreover, there were reports of pharmaceutical companies spending large amounts of money notonly on research but also on promotional activities, which included undisclosed payments tophysicians. Various Canadian pharmaceutical companies who had provided payments to doctorsincluded AbbVie Corp, GSK Canada, Merck Canada, Novartis Pharmaceutical Canada, Eli LillyCanada, among others (A Almeman, 2017).
3POLICY RESEARCH ASSAY Various psychiatrists like Charles Nemeroff and Alan Scatzberg were charged for takingundisclosed payments from various pharmaceutical companies. In April, 2011, Johnson andJohnson were charged of bribing doctors in Poland, Greece and Romania to buy the drugsmanufactured by them. They spent 7.6 million dollars on providing travel grants for doctors. Thecompany earned 3.5 million dollars profit from product sales through bribery (Www.sec.gov,2017). Other incidents that occurred in the past include Eli Lilly, who was charged in 2012 ofpaying government officials in order to increase sales in China, Poland, Brazil and Russia.Others include Pfizer, charged for carrying out illegal payments in various Asian and Europeancountries. In 2014, Endo Pharmaceuticals were charged for mis-promotion of Lidoderm, whichis a local anesthetic. GlaxoSmithKline was also charged for selling drugs not approved by theFDA (Www.ipsen.com, 2017)Past approaches that were carried out to rectify the challenge faced in the health sectorsincluded restriction of interactions between doctors and representatives of the pharmaceuticalcompanies. Moreover, payments if made would have to be disclosed to the Government andreported. The aim of the approach was to prevent the pharmaceutical industry to modulate theprescribing behaviors of the doctors. In the 1960s, there were various debates regarding theappropriateness in the relationships of the pharmaceutical companies and doctors. In 1991,American Medical Association (AMA) issued various rules and guidelines regarding undisclosedpayments and gifts that are given to clinicians, physicians and doctors by the pharmaceuticalcompanies (Breault, Shenson & Dugdale, 2015). From that time onwards, attention was paid topharmaceutical marketing methods as a result of the rise of marketing strategies and increaseddrug prices. According to the AMA, gifts valued below 100 dollars are allowed if they providepatient benefit and associated with a doctor’s practice. Moreover, meals can be funded to doctors
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