Medicine prices: patients before profits

There have been many allegations about pharmaceutical companies giving doctors commissions so that they prescribe certain products instead of others. I am not the only one who is on record stating that pharmaceutical companies give commissions to medical doctors.

Here is what a former member of the Medical Council wrote in a local paper on 4th October 2009. Quote: “Money makes medicines go round... A doctor friend of mine told me that large companies often pay all the expenses doctors incur to take part in conferences abroad. These occasions, he told me, are a flimsy excuse for a first-class all-expenses-paid holiday. The doctors are expected to prescribe the medicines advertised during these conferences, even though other less expensive and equally effective medicines are easily available. And many do just that.” Unquote.

Commissions increase the price of medicines by up to 30%. Putting it another way, if commissions were not being paid, then the patient would pay up to 30% less for certain medicines. The question arises: Does the Medical Council have the power to protect the patient from being exploited?

According to the Health Care Professions Act:- 31. (1) The Medical Council shall have the power, either on the complaint of any person or of its own motion, to investigate any allegation of professional misconduct or breach of ethics by a health care professional falling under its supervision. The Medical Council not only has the power to protect the patient – it has a duty to do so. The primary role of the Medical Council should be to protect the health and safety of the patient by ensuring the highest standards in the practice of medicine.

‘So why didn’t the dog bark? It’s curious’. Proposals: Declare an amnesty under certain conditions; Tax the commissions declared according to law; Pass a Medical Whistleblowers' Act; Review the composition of the Medical Council and increase patient representation.

Notes on the Medical Council 77% of the members of the Medical Council are medical professionals. Attendance in 2008: 1. One Council Member did not attend 80% of Council Meetings 2. One Council Member did not attend 75% of Council Meetings 3. One Council Member did not attend 40% of Council Meetings 4. One Council Member did not attend 37% of Council Meetings 5. One Council Member did not attend 30% of Council Meetings.