Wining and dining down under

Roche pharmaceuticals has been accused of violating Australia's pharmaceutical code of conduct by taking 200 docs out to swanky dinners that cost up to $200 a head (see story here. A snip:

Confronted with detailed evidence of the meals, a Roche spokeswoman admitted funding the events in July last year but argued they were in line with the industry code.





The largesse, which will be raised in an article in today's British Medical Journal, was part of a Roche-sponsored meeting for doctors specialising in blood disorders and cancers.





The Roche spokeswoman said such dinners were organised because the "educational content was rigorous and the days were long, it seems reasonable to us that a dinner of this type was on offer at the end of such an educational day".

Thanks to the PharmaGossip for the tip.