29.01.13
ESHLSG opens consultation on public register of payments
A new consultation on establishing a public register of payments made to healthcare professionals by commercial organisations has been launched by the Ethical Standards in Health and Life Sciences Group (ESHLSG).
This could foster greater transparency and trust between medical community, industry and patients across UK and Europe.
In June 2012, the pharmaceutical industry stated its ambition to introduce a system of public disclosure of payments across Europe by 2016. Companies operating in the UK will begin disclosing the total of payments in spring 2013.
The ESHLSG has outlined a set of principles on which a model of disclosure could be established. The consultation is open for three months.
Sir Richard Thompson, co-chair of the ESHLSG and president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), said: “This consultation is intended to establish whether there is, in principle, support for a publically available, single, searchable system for disclosure of payments that is inclusive of all commercial life science organisations working in healthcare.”
Deepak Khanna, co-chair of the ESHLSG and president of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), commented: “The consultation outlines ESHLSG’s vision of the principles behind how a system of declaration could work. It does not make recommendations about which payments to declare or cover, or make specific recommendations about the practical implementation of such a system.
“Our view is that the co-creation of a system to declare payments is the right course of action and that it should be developed and agreed jointly by the relevant stakeholder groups. A move to greater transparency would address societal demands, represent an evolution in the relationship between commercial organisations and healthcare professionals and would support new ways of working in the future.”
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