Sigma - all aboard the "love boat"

Putting the "med" in Mediterranean?

A DRUG company is offering doctors who prescribe its medicines a 10-day Mediterranean cruise in a move that could breach a code of conduct.

And taxpayers will help subsidise the cruise - described as "the perfect mix of education and relaxation" - because doctors are being told they can claim it as a professional development program.

The cruise raises questions about drug company ethics and the Australian Medical Association and the peak pharmaceutical industry group have warned the offer could lead to the perception of a conflict of interest for doctors who take it up.

Sigma, a generic drug manufacturer and the third-biggest pharmaceutical company in the country, wants to take general practitioners on a luxury cruise visiting Italy, Malta, Corsica and Monte Carlo in October.

In an advertisement in the Australian Doctor magazine, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett is billed as the keynote speaker.

A food science professor, a psychiatrist and a pharmacists will also speak to doctors during the cruise.

The ad said the cruise would have a strong focus on "practical education with a well-balanced format".

"While not in conference sessions, attendees can enjoy the vast range of activities and venues on the ship and of course all the on-shore spoils of the Mediterranean," the ad said.

Although doctors will have to contribute $5195 towards the cost of the trip, industry group Medicines Australia said it would still breach a drug company voluntary code of conduct that requires the educational content of drug company functions to outweigh the hospitality element.

Medicines Australia said a drug company voluntary code of conduct did not allow educational meetings to take place at holiday resorts.

A cruise falls into that category.

The code states that the choice of venue for educational gatherings with doctors must be able to withstand scrutiny and conform to professional and community standards of ethics.

But generic drug companies like Sigma, who are not members of Medicines Australia, do not have to abide by the code.

The code was developed after controversy over drug company hospitality with claims lavish dinners and weekends away could influence the prescribing habits of doctors.

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