Pharmaceutical lobbying and pandemic stockpiling of Tamiflu: a qualitative study of arguments and tactics
Vilhelmsson, Andreas LU
and Mulinari, Shai
LU
(2018)
In Journal of Public Health
40(3).
p.646-651
- Abstract
- Background Little is known about how pharmaceutical companies lobby authorities or experts regarding procurement or the use of vaccines and antivirals. This paper investigates how members of Denmark's pandemic planning committee experienced lobbying efforts by Roche, manufacturer of Tamiflu, the antiviral that was stockpiled before the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic. Methods Analysis of interviews with six of seven members of the Danish core pandemic committee, supplemented with documentary analysis. We sought to identify (1) arguments and (2) tactics used in lobbying, and to characterize interviewees' views on the impact of (3) lobbying and (4) scientific evidence on the decision to stockpile Tamiflu. Results Roche lobbied directly (in its own... (More)
- Background Little is known about how pharmaceutical companies lobby authorities or experts regarding procurement or the use of vaccines and antivirals. This paper investigates how members of Denmark's pandemic planning committee experienced lobbying efforts by Roche, manufacturer of Tamiflu, the antiviral that was stockpiled before the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic. Methods Analysis of interviews with six of seven members of the Danish core pandemic committee, supplemented with documentary analysis. We sought to identify (1) arguments and (2) tactics used in lobbying, and to characterize interviewees' views on the impact of (3) lobbying and (4) scientific evidence on the decision to stockpile Tamiflu. Results Roche lobbied directly (in its own name) and through a seemingly independent third party. Roche used two arguments: (1) the procurement agreement had to be signed quickly because the drug would be delivered on a first-come, first-served basis and (2) Denmark was especially vulnerable to an influenza crisis because it had smaller Tamiflu stocks than other countries. Most interviewees suspected that lobbying had an impact on Tamiflu procurement. Conclusions Our study highlights risks posed by pharmaceutical lobbying. Arguments and tactics deployed by Roche are likely to be repeated whenever many countries are negotiating drug procurements in a monopolistic market. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b9032aad-ba7d-40a4-8032-4ebb3c20f914
- author
- Vilhelmsson, Andreas
LU
and Mulinari, Shai
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Journal of Public Health
- volume
- 40
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 646 - 651
- publisher
- Oxford University Press
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:28977398
- scopus:85054084765
- ISSN
- 1741-3842
- DOI
- 10.1093/pubmed/fdx101
- project
- The dilemma of the swine flu vaccine
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- b9032aad-ba7d-40a4-8032-4ebb3c20f914
- date added to LUP
- 2017-07-21 14:37:10
- date last changed
- 2024-01-28 22:27:24
@article{b9032aad-ba7d-40a4-8032-4ebb3c20f914,
abstract = {{Background Little is known about how pharmaceutical companies lobby authorities or experts regarding procurement or the use of vaccines and antivirals. This paper investigates how members of Denmark's pandemic planning committee experienced lobbying efforts by Roche, manufacturer of Tamiflu, the antiviral that was stockpiled before the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic. Methods Analysis of interviews with six of seven members of the Danish core pandemic committee, supplemented with documentary analysis. We sought to identify (1) arguments and (2) tactics used in lobbying, and to characterize interviewees' views on the impact of (3) lobbying and (4) scientific evidence on the decision to stockpile Tamiflu. Results Roche lobbied directly (in its own name) and through a seemingly independent third party. Roche used two arguments: (1) the procurement agreement had to be signed quickly because the drug would be delivered on a first-come, first-served basis and (2) Denmark was especially vulnerable to an influenza crisis because it had smaller Tamiflu stocks than other countries. Most interviewees suspected that lobbying had an impact on Tamiflu procurement. Conclusions Our study highlights risks posed by pharmaceutical lobbying. Arguments and tactics deployed by Roche are likely to be repeated whenever many countries are negotiating drug procurements in a monopolistic market.}},
author = {{Vilhelmsson, Andreas and Mulinari, Shai}},
issn = {{1741-3842}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{646--651}},
publisher = {{Oxford University Press}},
series = {{Journal of Public Health}},
title = {{Pharmaceutical lobbying and pandemic stockpiling of Tamiflu: a qualitative study of arguments and tactics}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdx101}},
doi = {{10.1093/pubmed/fdx101}},
volume = {{40}},
year = {{2018}},
}