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Drug company fined for excessive hospitality In a legal test case Merck Sharp and Dohme has become the first pharmaceutical company in the Netherlands to be prosecuted for entertaining doctors excessively, contrary to the Dutch marketing code for prescription-only drugs. The company was fined a total of 95000 guilders (£27500; $41000) relating to 19 events promoting its new antimigraine drug rizatriptan (Maxalt). The court found that hospitality had not been kept within reasonable limits, nor was there a reasonable division between the scientific part of the events and the far greater time spent on hospitality. The prosecution had argued that the emphasis was on fun and entertainment, not on scientific education. The company organised dry ski slope and go-kart contests, both in Holland and Belgium, for GPs and neurologists, which they called the Maxalt Grand-prix. It also provided a weekend on the Friesian island of Terschelling, which included shrimp fishing and dinner dances; seminars were followed by outings to the musical Chicago and the North Sea Jazz festival. Entertainment accounted for most of the time spent at all the events, with as little 10% of the Terschelling weekend taken up with lectures. In addition, hospitality was extended to doctors' partners for some of the events, contrary to the code. Merck Sharp and Dohme had, according to the prosecution, tried to influence prescribing behaviour by offering hospitality that was neither within reasonable limits nor secondary to the main aim of the seminars. In addition, speakers were presented as being independent but were "in reality in several cases on the [Merck Sharp and Dohme] payroll," sitting on an advisory board, which considered the marketing strategy for Maxalt. The prosecution accepted that the company might not be the only company guilty of contravening the code. It argued that the medical world was a closed one in which "doctors have little interest" in making it known they have been on a "jaunt." The company argued that its activities had been carefully kept within the normal application of the code. Their educational and promotional activities had undergone strict internal legal and medical testing. It believed it was being used as a test case to clarify the code as the health and justice ministries are currently considering a new law. Merck Sharp and Dohme is considering an appeal. The drug marketing code, based on 1992 EU guidelines, permits "reasonable hospitality" during events of a "professional" nature. Tony Sheldon, Utrecht BMJ 2001;322:382 ( 17 February ) http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7283/382/b janet paterson, an akinetic rigid subtype parkie 53 now / 44 dx cd / 43 onset cd / 41 dx pd / 37 onset pd TEL: 613 256 8340 SMAIL: PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada EMAIL: [log in to unmask] URL: http://www.geocities.com/janet313/