Clause 9.9 - Research and educational grants and charitable donations
We have been asked by a group of HCPs at a particular hospital to give them an educational grant which we are aware they will use to fund a specific HCP from their group to attend a third-party conference. Can we give them the educational grant?
No. Clause 9.9.3 allows educational grants for genuine medical education programs with an academic affiliation. The clause should not be used to circumvent clause 9.3.2’s prohibition on companies funding HCPs directly to attend third party conferences. Clause 9.9.3(c) prohibits companies from making an educational grant directly to a healthcare professional or a practitioner in training. If a company has a reasonable concern that an educational grant is going to be used to directly fund a HCP to a conference, it must not give the grant.
In addition, clause 9.9.1(c) requires companies to ensure that the recipient of an educational grant makes an independent decision on how the funds are used. This means that companies should satisfy themselves that those involved at the recipient level in deciding where the grant will be allocated do not have a conflict of interest (such as being a potential recipient of the educational grant or closely associated with potential recipients).
