Not So Tough On Drugs After All

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Professor Andrew Herx-heimer, emeritus fellow at the UK Cochrane Centre, told the British Medical Journal that changes to the British drug industry's voluntary code of practice were minimal. "This is very competent window dressing but not much has changed at all," he said. The drug industry's revised code followed the House of Commons health select committee's report, The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry, which found numerous flaws in the system of self-regulation. While the new code introduces new restrictions aimed at limiting the extent of drug company hospitality - including luxury accommodation and first class flights - doctors have criticized the limited sanctions for breaches. "The key weakness is that this is regulated by the industry, and so it is written in such a way that it doesn't seriously inconvenience companies if anything goes wrong," said Ike Iheanacho, the editor of the Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin.