The marketing of pharmaceutical agents: friend or foe?

College activities and the ethics of advertising

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this paper is to examine whether advertising in the College journals and at RANZCP Congress, in particular from pharmaceutical companies, gives rise to a conflict of interests, and to discuss how this should be managed.

CONCLUSIONS

While advertising will often represent a conflict of interests, banning advertising from the College journals or Congress is unlikely to the best way to manage this. Conflicts of interest may be better managed by development of clear policies on advertisements, broadening the advertising base (i.e. beyond pharmaceutical companies), checking the accuracy of advertisements, and, in the case of Congress, ceasing sponsored symposia.