Big pharma splashes its cash around Aussie assisted reproduction industry

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-09-01 00:01

Australia; International; NSW; VIC

CC-0

Aussie researchers say the pharmaceutical industry sponsors a broad range of fertility clinicians and organisations, including doctors, nurses, embryologists, professional medical organisations, fertility clinics, and patient groups in Australia. Their analysis found that, between October 2011 and April 2018, pharma giants Merck Serono and MSD spent more than $4.5 million on fertility-related events for healthcare professionals, between October 2015 and April 2018, Merck Serono spent $403,800, mainly on educational event attendance, and between 2013 and 2017, Merck Serono provided $662,850 to fertility-related patient groups for advocacy and education. Although the researchers were unable to draw firm conclusions about the impact of all the payments on clinical practice, this sponsorship may contribute to the overuse of fertility services, they warn.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research The BMJ, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: BMJ Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Melbourne, Orygen, The University of Sydney, University of Auckland, The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center, USA

Funder: This project was not funded by a specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for- profit sectors.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.