Several associations have accused the European Commission of supporting pharma companies in trying to make direct-to-consumer advertising for medicinal products legal. Four groups representing complementary health insurers, independent medical bulletins and patient advocates have issued a joint press release claiming: “The European Commission is supportive of the industry’s moves: its ‘consultations’ are little more than an attempt to sway public opinion.”

The press release was issued on Wednesday by the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB), the Medicines in Europe Forum, Health Action International (HAI) and the Association internationale de la mutualité (AIM) and charge that the EC is trying to overlook the “underlying risks to health” and ignore “the likely impact on the financial sustainability of Member states’ public health systems.”

This is the latest effort by the groups in their quest to scuttle what they say are industry attempts to get around the ban on DTC for for prescription drugs. In June, the three associations sent an open letter to the Commissioner for Industry, Günter Verheugen, complaining that the methodology of a consultation launched in April was biased in favor of pharma, APM Europe reminds us (subscription may be required).

The groups say that if pharma was authorized to communicate directly with patients then the Commission’s “claim to uphold the ban on advertising” for prescription drugs “would be no more than a smokescreen.” In other words, authorizing direct communication with patients would unleash major conflicts of interest, APM writes. And the groups reiterate earlier objections, which are that “measures intended to control direct-to-consumer advertising in the United States and direct-to-prescriber advertising in Europe have clearly failed.”

The four signatories argue that it is important to uphold Articles 86 and 88 of Directive 2001/83/EC that prohibit direct-to-consumer communication by pharma companies and they call on the European Commission to “uphold patients’ interests above all else.”

The Commission is regularly accused of supporting the pharmaceutical industry. During a meeting called by the HAI in Brussels in October, Christian Siebert, Head of Unit F5 of DG Enterprise, was taken to task by DTC opponents. The EC was also accused of not being transparent with the membership of its composition of the Pharmaceutical Forum, an informal group comprising the Commission, Member states, European parliamentary ministers and stakeholders. The Forum meets to discuss possible advances in a number of fields, particularly patient information.

Christian Siebert defended the Commission’s choices, explaining that it would not have been easy to invite all patient associations and consequently it was the European Patient’s Forum (EPF) that had been invited, considered as the “broadest and most representative.” As for criticism suggesting the Commission is biased, Siebert tells APM that it was insulting “to believe that officials of the Commission are just ‘an extension’ of the pharmaceutical industry.

Source: APM