Health Department workers have received $745,000 worth of gifts, business-class flights and accommodation from pharmaceutical and medical companies, many of which sell drugs and equipment to WA hospitals.
Documents tabled in State Parliament reveal 259 instances between July 1 last year and April 6 in which perks - including champagne and flights and hotel packages to Paris, Vienna, Montreal and Los Angeles - were accepted.
The dossier was released after Labor frontbencher Mark McGowan asked departments to reveal gifts from private companies.
It shows the vast majority of gifts were given to health officials.
More than half of the gifts or trips were accepted by staff from the South Metropolitan Area Health Service, which runs Royal Perth, Fremantle, Armadale, Bentley and Rockingham hospitals.
The service is headed by Nicole Feely, a former chief of staff to former PM John Howard.
The freebies included return business-class flights to New Orleans and six nights accommodation worth $15,244 paid for by global drug company Merck, Sharp and Dohme, which sells pharmaceuticals to the department.
Three North Metropolitan Area Health Service employees each accepted return business-class flights and three nights accommodation in Los Angeles worth a total of $28,488. It was paid for by healthcare conglomerate Abbott Australasia, which has no existing relationship with the department.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Health staff face freebies review - The West Australian
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4 comments:
Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD), the global pharmaceutical company responsible for the freebies, happens to be the same company, which along with its parent company, Merck & Co, was at the heart of the Vioxx scandal and subject to a successful class action against it last year http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/vioxx-maker-urged-to-pay-all-victims/story-e6frg8y6-1225837516458 MSD was found guilty of breaches to the Trade Practices Act on two of the applicant's five claims against it, and ordered to pay compensation (though there are plans to appeal - http://www.msd-australia.com.au/content/corporate/press/PressRelease/18062010.html
The drug company handing out the freebies, Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD), happens to be the same company at the heart of the Vioxx scandal. A class action here in Australia last year, saw MSD, a subsidiary of Merck & Co, found guilty of breaches to the Trade Practices Act.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/vioxx-maker-urged-to-pay-all-victims/story-e6frg8y6-1225837516458
These types of the gifts must be offered to all of the employees. It was paid for by healthcare conglomerate Abbott Australasia, which has no existing relationship with the department.
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