A drug company is offering doctors who prescribe its medicines a 10-day Mediterranean cruise, a move that could breach a code of conduct. What’s more, taxpayers will help subsidize the cruise, because doctors are being told they can claim it as a professional development program.
Sigma, a generic drug manufacturer, wants to take general practitioners on a luxury cruise visiting Italy, Malta, Corsica and Monte Carlo in October.
The cruise has raised questions about drug company ethics. A drug company voluntary code of conduct does not allow educational meetings to take place at holiday resorts, including a cruise. But generic drug companies like Sigma do not have to abide by the code.