Medicine Board refuses to attend drug conference

THE organisers of a medical conference which will discuss conflicts of interest within the pharmaceutical and medical industries have expressed dismay that the Irish Medicine Board has refused to attend.

Orla O’Donovan, one of the conference’s moderators, and a University College Cork lecturer who has researched pharmaceutical regulation across Europe, said the decision fits with the agency’s reluctance to participate in public engagement about its work.

Ms O’Donovan said unlike its European counterpart, the IMB does not provide public access to its experts’ declarations in interests.

She expressed concern that the IMB is moving towards complete reliance on fees from the pharmaceutical industry fees by the end of 2012.

The move, she said, is “worrying”, as this is not ideal for an agency concerned with public safety.

While the IMB’s predecessor, the National Drugs Advisory Board (NDAB) was funded by a grant in aid from the Government, the method of funding switched to fees for services to drug companies when the new body was established.

A report by the 2007 Oireachtas sub-committee on the Adverse Side Effects of Medicines said this arrangement “tends to put the drug companies in the position of clients of the IMB,” with the inference that the IMB has a corresponding obligation to meet its “clients’’ needs.

Organised by the by Health Action International Europe, in association with the Critical Voices Network Ireland, the conference is due to take place in a fortnight’s time

An IMB spokesperson said it gets many requests and invitations to seminars and conferences, but that on this occasion, it could not facilitate the invitation due to previous commitments.