11 December 2019 - Pharmaceutical companies will no longer be allowed to pay fees to Canadian doctors for overseeing intravenous infusions of their medications under a revised ethical code written by the industry group for brand-name drug makers.

Innovative Medicines Canada, which represents the Canadian branches of more than 40 drug companies, recently unveiled an updated Code of Ethical Practices that prohibits members from making direct or indirect payments to prescribing physicians for services provided to their own patients.

Among the types of payments that IMC aims to ban are the per-infusion fees that The Globe and Mail uncovered in an investigation last year of Canada’s most lucrative drug, a biological treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease called Remicade.

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