Published on: December 25, 2013
There have always been questions raised about the ethical propriety of the pharmaceutical and allied industries sponsoring doctors’ travel for attending conferences. It is only one part of the problem, though. (You might care to read what David Henry and Joel Lexchin have to say in THE LANCET • Vol 360 • November 16, 2002.
India Medical Times reports on 17 December 2013 that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) … announced the start of a two-year process during which it will begin a consultative process towards stopping direct payments to healthcare professionals for speaking engagements and for attendance at medical conferences.
“At the same time, the company will increase its focus on developing its multi-channel capability and alternative approaches to enable it to continue to provide appropriate information about its products and to support medical education for healthcare professionals,” according to a statement by the company.
Hmmm; We share the common man’s fear of long words and start wondering what lies behind the words “multi-channel capability” and particularly “alternative approaches”!

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