More Exposure for Drug Company Junkets

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued the draft decision requiring drug companies to publish on the internet hospitality arrangements for doctors attending conferences staged to inform them of new pharmaceutical developments. Critics say these sessions give companies the opportunity to "schmooze" doctors and encourage them to prescribe them to patients. Drug companies will be required to publish details of lavish perks offered in "educational" sessions for doctors, under new rules issued by the consumer watchdog. In its determination, the ACCC cited United States research which linked a sudden threefold increase in prescriptions for a particular drug to a company-sponsored education session. Certain company spokemen were insulted by the regualtions, saying that it treated them as if they were guilty of something. Really?