Suggestions that pharmaceutical companies are increasingly trying to influence the prescribing habits of hospital consultants by taking them on trips to conferences abroad have been rejected by a body representing drug companies in the Republic.
Mr Brian Murphy of the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association said it was "fanciful" to suggest drug companies could "sway" a consultant to prescribe something that should not be prescribed.
He was reacting to comments made by the inspector of mental hospitals, Dr Dermot Walsh, in his 2002 annual report, published on Wednesday.
Dr Walsh expressed concern at the inroads made on consultants' time "by the sharp increase in the promotional activities of pharmaceutical companies, some in out-of-state jurisdictions, and of several days duration". A lot of these events were "lavish" and contained "almost an element of seduction" which he found worrying, he said. "Unscientific material aimed at influencing prescribing practice" was presented at some meetings, he added.
Mr Murphy said he was surprised by the comments because consultants need to engage in continuing education and keep up to date by attending international conferences. "Ireland is a small country. If you want to hear two or three international speakers, the likelihood is you will have to go overseas," he said.
He said the industry abided by a code of conduct which states that "hospitality extended by a company to a delegate attending an overseas meeting must be reasonable in level and secondary to the main purpose of the occasion at which it is provided".
Asked how much the industry here set aside to cover doctors' travel expenses every year, Mr Murphy said he did not know. It would be down to individual companies, he said.
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association defended the practice on Wednesday, saying it would not be possible for doctors to attend many of the educational events they attend if they were relying on State sponsorship.It also rejected suggestions that consultants would be unduly influenced by the drug companies that funded their trips.