The 2009 PhRMA Code issued by the Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America provides guidelines relevant to situations that can occur during healthcare meetings. The full code can be accessed at www.phrma.org. Here are a few excerpts from the code’s Q&A section:
Under the code, could a company provide healthcare professionals with pens or clipboards designed to be used by healthcare professionals or patients in the healthcare professional’s office along with brochures that provide educational information about that company’s product?
No. The code states that providing healthcare professionals with items that do not advance disease or treatment education is not appropriate, even if these items are practice-related items of minimal value, such as clipboards, pens, mugs or similar items with or without company logos or product names printed on them. It would, however, be appropriate for a company to distribute educational brochures without pens or clipboards.
Under the code, may golf balls and sports bags be provided if they bear a company or product name?<1
No. As stated in the prior version of the code, golf balls and sports bags, even if of minimal value, do not advance disease or treatment education and therefore should not be offered, regardless of whether they bear a company or product name.
A national specialty society is holding its three-day annual conference, which includes business meetings, entertainment and a half-day of educational programs for which physicians may receive CME (continuing medical education) credit. May a company sponsor a reception or lunch at the conference?
The code provides that a company should not provide or sponsor meals directly at CME events. However, at third-party conferences or professional meetings at which CME activities comprise only a part of the conference or meeting, a company may sponsor a meal or reception at the conference if it is permitted by the group holding the conference or meeting and is clearly separate from the CME portions of the program. In such cases, any meals or receptions sponsored by a company should be modest and clearly subordinate to the amount of time spent at other aspects of the meeting.
May a company publicize its interest in a general topic for a CME program for which a grant would be provided?
Yes, a company may communicate to multiple CME providers or the public a general topic for a CME program that might be of interest to physicians. For example, a company may publicize that it will consider funding the topics of new treatments or disease management techniques in a particular therapy area such as diabetes or hypertension. However, the company should follow CME accreditation standards considering the nature and specificity of the CME topics that the company may propose, keeping in mind the code’s statement that financial support for CME is intended to support education on a full range of treatment options and not to promote a particular medicine. In addition, the company may not suggest the speakers or review or make any suggestions concerning the specific content of a particular CME program, even if asked by the CME provider.
Under what circumstances would the code permit a company to provide entertainment or recreational activities to healthcare practitioners?
Under the code, companies may not provide entertainment or recreational activities to healthcare practitioners who are not employees of the companies in any context, including situations where those practitioners are providing a legitimate service to the companies, such as when they act as bona fide consultants on an advisory board or are trained at a speaker-training meeting. Thus, companies should not invite healthcare professionals to sporting events, concerts or shows, or provide them with recreational activities such as hunting, fishing, boating, ski trips or golf outings, even if those entertainment events or recreational activities are intended to facilitate informational interchanges between the company representative and the healthcare professional. Similarly, it would be inappropriate to provide these types of entertainment and recreational events in conjunction with promotional scientific presentations by medical experts.
A company is asked to fund a CME program as a “platinum” level supporter. This level of support includes the opportunity for the company to directly sponsor a lunch at the event. May the company become a “platinum” level supporter?
It is appropriate under the code for a company to provide funding to a CME provider, which the provider can use at its discretion to provide meals for all participants. However, a company should not control how the provider spends the funding, and a company should not sponsor or host a meal directly at a CME program. A company may fund a CME program at a particular level of support designated by the CME provider and be publicized for providing that level of support, as long as the company does not separately promote, publicize or otherwise take advantage of any option to be identified as the sponsor of a meal.
Under the code, may a company make a charitable contribution such as purchasing a table at a fundraising dinner or a foursome slot at a fund-raising golf tournament?
Yes, but the company may not invite healthcare professionals to attend the event at its expense. The company may use some or all of its allotment for its own employees, and return any unused portion to the sponsoring organization to use as it wishes.
