Medicines Australia Code of Conduct
(Aust Prescr 2003;26:66)
Medicines Australia (formerly the Australian PharmaceuticalManufacturers Association) has a code of conduct to guide the promotion of prescriptiondrugs in Australia.
1 Anupdated version of the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct was implemented earlierthis year.2 Therevisions will have taken into account some of the complaints received in theprevious year.The report of the Code of Conduct Committee for 2002says that 49 complaints were received. Nine complaints were withdrawn andsome are unresolved, so the report details the assessment of 36 cases.3
Most of the complaints came from rival pharmaceuticalcompanies, but six came from health professionals and three were made bythe Australian Consumers Association. Nine complaints did not involve a breachof the Code of Conduct and two more were dismissed by the Code of ConductAppeals Committee. This leaves 25 complaints in which at least one breachof the Code was found (Table 1). Details of these breaches can be found inthe report.3
N O T E
The Medicines Australia Code of Conduct is available from:
Medicines Australia
Level 1, 16 Napier Close
DEAKIN ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 6282 6888
Web site: www.medicinesaustralia.com.au
References
1. RougheadEE. The Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association Code of Conduct:guiding the promotion of prescription medicines. Aust Prescr 1999;22:78-80.
2. Medicines Australia. Code of Conduct. 14th ed. Canberra:Medicines Australia; 2002.
3. Medicines Australia. Code of Conduct Annual Report2002. Canberra: Medicines Australia; 2002.
