AUTH/3207/6/19: Anonymous v Santen (RCOphth congress conduct and symposium hospitality) – No breach | PMCPA Case

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Key facts

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Case number	AUTH/3207/6/19
Parties	Anonymous complainant v Santen UK Limited
Complaint theme	Conduct of employees; congress/symposium conduct; hospitality; speaker arrangements
Event(s)	Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) annual meeting 2019; Santen-organised symposium
Products/areas mentioned	Prescription-only eye drops (including glaucoma); Ikervis (prescribing information included in symposium booklet); Microshunt (glaucoma medical device; rights acquired by Santen)
Hospitality cost	£46.71 per person (pre-event drinks £5.07; dinner and drinks £41.64)
Water at stand	Branded bottled water; £1.30 per bottle; 500 available; single-use recyclable
Attendees	Over 60 HCPs attended symposium (63 stated); ~20 Santen employees attended (UK and EMEA)
Alleged issues	Inducement/pressure to leave poster session; interruption of judges; hospitality as incentive; irrelevance of content; promotion of acquired/other-company products; high speaker payment and business class travel
Applicable Code year	2019
Clauses considered	Clause 2; Clause 9.1; Clause 11.1; Clause 18.1; Clause 22.1; Clause 23.1
Panel decision	No breach of the Code
Complaint received	19 June 2019
Case completed	15 November 2019
Appeal	No appeal

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

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An anonymous, non-contactable complainant (described as a concerned physician) complained about Santen UK employees’ conduct at the 2019 Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) meeting and a Santen-organised symposium.
Allegations included Santen staff asking delegates to leave a poster session to attend the Santen meeting at another venue, including allegedly interrupting poster judges.
The complainant alleged a senior employee encouraged attendance by offering “wine and dinner”.
The complainant received a branded bottle of water from the Santen exhibition stand and considered it confusing/inappropriate (including environmental concerns about plastic).
The complainant said the symposium ran late; wine was available earlier and food only at the end; and that some sessions were irrelevant to their practice.
The complainant queried what Santen was promoting and whether it was promoting products it had acquired (including Microshunt, a glaucoma medical device) and/or other companies’ products.
The complainant alleged the Microshunt speaker said they were paid “a lot of money” and flown business class, and questioned why a UK speaker was not used.

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No breach of the Code was found.
The Panel considered providing bottled water from an exhibition stand was not unreasonable and did not constitute a prohibited gift on the facts presented.
The Panel considered the hospitality cost for the symposium (£46.71 per person) was not unreasonable and not out of line with what recipients would normally adopt when paying for themselves.
The Panel found the complainant did not provide evidence to support allegations about employee conduct/inducement at the poster session and therefore did not discharge the burden of proof.
The Panel accepted that using a US speaker with relevant Microshunt experience was not necessarily a breach; business class travel for intercontinental travel was not a breach; and the arrangements were not shown to be in breach.
The Panel found no evidence that Santen promoted another company’s medicines or failed to maintain high standards.
The Panel considered the meeting content was tailored to the audience and ruled no breach regarding meeting content.
No breach of Clause 2 (discredit/reduced confidence) was ruled.

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