The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission proposes to grant authorisation for edition 17 of Medicines Australia’s Code of Conduct for three years.
The code regulates interactions between Medicines Australia’s pharmaceutical member companies and healthcare professionals such as doctors and pharmacists.
“The ACCC considers that the code results in public benefits by providing greater transparency around the relationships between pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
“However, the ACCC notes that community expectations of disclosure by the pharmaceutical industry have increased and continue to increase. In light of this, the ACCC considers Medicines Australia could go further in ensuring the code meets these expectations now and in the future.”
The ACCC encourages Medicines Australia to look for ways to address the concerns that have been raised during the ACCC’s consultation process. These include improving the accessibility of reports and the complaints process and considering disclosure of payments made to individual healthcare professionals.
In order to ensure that the code continues to meet current community expectations the ACCC’s draft determination proposes to grant authorisation for three years, rather than the five years sought by Medicines Australia. During this authorisation period, Medicines Australia will be able to complete work it has already commenced on reviewing the code and make any resulting changes.
The ACCC has granted authorisation to the code a number of times, most recently in 2009. All member companies of Medicines Australia must adhere to the code, although membership of Medicines Australia is voluntary.
Authorisation provides statutory protection from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Broadly, the ACCC may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment.
Authorisation does not represent ACCC endorsement of a code. Rather, it provides statutory protection from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Act.
The ACCC is now seeking submissions from the applicant and interested parties on the draft determination. The draft determination is available at www.accc.gov.au/AuthorisationsRegister.