Watchdog resignation forced ‘to appease pharma’
pharmafile | September 6, 2010 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Germany, IQWIG
The head of Germany’s medicines cost-effectiveness watchdog was forced to resign because he was a vocal critic of the pharma industry, a new book alleges.
Peter Sawicki had to resign as head of Germany’s IQWiG in January this year, with irregularities in his expenses claims given as the reason.
Now as his successor takes over, a new book claims there was a secret political plot to remove him in order to appease the pharmaceutical industry, of which he had been highly critical.
A new book by television journalist Ursel Sieber claims the government intervened as early as June 2009.
The book, Gesunder Zweifel, or ‘Healthy Doubts’, claims the government made it clear that Sawicki’s contract should not be extended.
SusanneWald, the then head of the government’s healthcare policy section, is named as the minister who intervened.
National newspaper Der Spiegel reports that the government has not denied the claims, a government spokesman saying: “Staff from the chancellery regularly phone up responsible departments to inform themselves of the state of current topics.”
Sawicki was considered to be independent-minded and very critical of the pharma industry, and effective at going public with those criticisms, qualities which earned him enemies within the sector, and praise from elsewhere.
The election of the current government, with junior coalition partners the business-friendly Free Democrats, who made no secret of their support of the pharma industry in general, sparked immediate fears for Sawicki’s future heading the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Healthcare, IQWiG.
The book also claims how the current health minister Philipp Rösler – then Minister for Economics, Labour and Transport for the Lower Saxony region – worked with other state economics ministers and a crucial pharma lobby group to agree on a statement decrying IQWiG as counterproductive for the country.
The statement was agreed with the association of research-based pharma manufacturers, VfA, the book says, comparing what the lobbyists had suggested with what was issued by the politicians – which match almost exactly.
Windeler: relationship should not end in hostilities
Jürgen Windeler, a doctor and clinical epidemiologist, has taken over as head of the Institute as of 1 September.
In remarks to the press, Windeler (pictured above) has made it clear that he understands the commercial motives of the pharma industry, but says there is a need for bodies like IQWiG to scrutinise industry data an ultimately to stimulate improvements in products.
“On many points of substance, I won’t differ from the past approach of IQWiG,” says Windeler, but added that he aimed to maintain cordial relations with the industry.
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