The pharmaceutical industry has denied bringing psychiatrists on "lavish" trips designed to influence drugs prescription practice.
The annual report of the Inspector of Mental Hospitals, Dr Dermot Walsh, yesterday expressed concern about the nature of seminars and conferences organised by drug firms. He said some of the events - often overseas - outlined latest research and other relevant information - but "others appear to present unscientific material aimed at influencing prescribing practice".
The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) responded today saying its members had signed to up to a code of conduct "that makes it very clear that hospitality can only be secondary to the main purpose of the event and reasonable in scale".
IPHA commercial affairs manager, Mr Brian Murphy said he was "surprised at the comment in [Dr Walsh's] report as conferences are one of the ways in which consultants can get information on new products".
"There is a suggestion in the report that patients are in some way losing out from this but in fact they benefit," Mr Murphy added.
In his report, Dr Walsh also expressed concern at the amount of time consultants were spending at events organised by drugs firms.Mr Murphy said he was not aware of any consultants who were attending conferences with unusual regularity.