AbbVie voluntary admission: representative failed to meet ABPI exam requirements (AUTH/2990/11/17)

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Key facts

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Case number	AUTH/2990/11/17
Company	AbbVie Ltd
Case type	Voluntary admission (treated as a complaint under Paragraph 5.6 of the Constitution and Procedure)
Issue	Failure to comply with examination requirements for representatives
Applicable Code year	2016
Breach clause(s)	Clause 16.3
Representative start date	October 2015
Exam activity (as reported)	One module passed (Nov 2016); two modules passed (Jul 2017); four modules attempted at least twice and not passed
Panel decision	Breach ruled
Sanctions	Undertaking received; additional sanctions not stated
Voluntary admission received	2 November 2017
Complaint received (PMCPA page)	01 November 2017
Case completed	12 January 2018
Appeal	No appeal

Reviewed by Dr Anzal Qurbain (FFPM) — ABPI Final Signatory

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AbbVie voluntarily admitted that one of its representatives had not taken an appropriate examination within one year of starting employment and had not passed it within the first two years.
The representative started as a representative in October 2015 (first role in the pharmaceutical industry).
Exam history provided: one module sat and passed in November 2016; two further modules sat and passed in July 2017; four other modules were each taken on at least two occasions and had not been passed.
Once identified (raised with HR in October 2017), the representative was withdrawn from the field and instructed not to communicate with customers directly or indirectly pending a disciplinary process.
AbbVie stated it had an SOP requiring the ABPI Examination and annual in-house Code training; it also implemented a new process in Q1 2017 for recording/monitoring representative education and said it would review the exam status of all representatives.

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The Director treated the voluntary admission as a complaint (per Paragraph 5.6 of the Constitution and Procedure).
The Panel ruled a breach because the examination was not taken within the first year and not passed within two years.
No appeal.

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