European Drug Pushers

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The drug industry is hopeful that it will succeed in watering down the European Union's ban on direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) of pharmaceuticals. Draft proposals from a working group, which includes members of the European Commission and the drug industry, have proposed a public-private partnership to provide patient "information" on prescription medicines. It is a prospect that horrifies the medical watchdog group Health Action International (HAI). In response (pdf) to the latest EU push, HAI stated, "The pharmaceutical industry is in no position to provide the information people want, need and deserve; information that is unbiased, reliable and comparative." In 2004 a push to weaken the EU's DTCA ban was overwhelmingly rejected. HAI reports that one of the European Union members of parliament defended the latest move on the grounds that "70% of the current MEPs were new to their positions."