The Telegraph’s recent exposé of NHS staff allegedly accepting financial inducements and lavish hospitality from pharmaceutical companies, may result in the pharmaceutical industry facing increasing pressure and scrutiny to demonstrate it has robust policies to monitor compliance and fight the risks of bribery and corruption.
The provision of hospitality, gifts or any kind of inducements to healthcare professionals, or other decision makers within healthcare organisations by the pharmaceutical industry are strictly governed by UK law, including the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, the Bribery Act 2010 as well as voluntary industry codes of practice.
Gillian Johnson, Head of Life Sciences at Stevens & Bolton LLP, considers the interaction between the relevant law and voluntary codes in a recent article published in SCRIP Intelligence.