MELBOURNE, May 1 (UPI) -- Australian regulators are proposing tougher regulations to crack down on drug companies that offer perks to doctors to prescribe their products.
While Australia's competition regulator Graeme Samuel says he is virtually powerless to stop pharmaceutical giants from improperly promoting their products, a group of Melbourne cancer specialists says doctors speaking to the media need to disclose their connections with drug companies, The Age reported.
The specialists say the "connections" include payments to attend conferences, international first-class travel and "consulting" or "advising" fees.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has proposed that drug companies be subject to spot checks to monitor the perks and gifts they offer to doctors.
The newspaper said the pharmaceutical industry regulates itself through a code of conduct, with fines of up to $200,000 for code breaches. The ACCC, however, says fines are rarely imposed and when they are, the amount falls at the lower end of the scale.
