German industry puts weight behind ethical collaboration

Published: 02/20

BERLIN/GERMANY - (HealthTech Wire) -  As part of its drive to encourage partnerships for innovation among the various players of the healthcare sector in Germany, the BVMed industry association has launched a campaign called "medtech compass" which it hopes will increase transparency and co-operation between doctors, medical institutions and industry. All collaborations should be ethically sound, it says.

As part of its drive to encourage partnerships for innovation among the various players of the healthcare sector in Germany, the BVMed industry association has launched a campaign called "medtech compass" which it hopes will increase transparency and co-operation between doctors, medical institutions and industry. All collaborations should be ethically sound, it says.

Following on from calls from new chairman Meinrad Lugan and chief executive Joachim Schmitt, the Berlin-based association has set up www.medtech-kompass.de, launched a 12-page flyer and published newsletters to encourage such partnerships. Fresenius and BVMed director Carsten Clausen said the industry had long put its weight behind collaborations as a means to promote innovations. He was speaking at the launch of "medtech compass," in Berlin.

Clear operating rules for partnerships are needed out in the field, where there are often questions and uncertainties about how to proceed, said the association: hence the information campaign, which recommends best practice approaches. The first newsletter includes interviews with the general secretary of the Universitatsklinik Deutschland, Rudiger Strehl, and the director of healthcare compliance at Johnson & Johnson, Manfred Mieskes, on the theme of higher and further education in science.

The BVMed information is aimed at all players in healthcare. The initiative promotes an ethical approach to conference sponsoring; transparency and clarity in the services offered by a company; fairness in trading; and full documentation of transactions.