english.prescrire.org > Annual Prescrire Awards > The Prescrire Awards for 2016 > The Prescrire Information Awards for 2016 > 2016 Information Awards

The Prescrire Awards for 2016

The Prescrire Information Awards for 2016

The Prescrire Information Awards for 2016

Palmarès de l'information

The Information Awards focus on
the information provided to Prescrire
by the companies whose products
we examined in the New Products
section of our French edition in 2016.

Palme

        Honours List
                 (in alphabetical order)
OUTSTANDING:
• CTRS (Cell Therapies Research & Services)
• EG Labo
FOLLOWED BY:
• Accord Healthcare • Arrow Génériques • Delbert • Eumedica • Glax SmithKline • Mayoly Spindler •Medac
Lanterne Rouge
 
Red Cards
(in alphabetical order)
• Allergan • Bayer Healthcare • Bristol-Myers Squibb • Celgene • Effik • Genévrier • Genzyme (Groupe Sanofi) • Menarini • Pfizer • Sanofi Aventis • Shire

About the 2016 Information Awards
Pharmaceutical companies hold a wealth of information on the drugs they market or withdraw from the market. They have a responsibility to share this information, in part to help ensure that their drugs are used appropriately, and to protect patients from certain risks.

As part of its systematic literature search, Prescrire requests clinical data, packaging, and administrative and regulatory information from drug companies, then compares them with information obtained from other sources.

Prescrire's Information Awards reflect how each company assumes this responsibility to share information. Our aim is to encourage companies that have a responsible policy on the provision of information, and to urge companies that fail in this responsibility to do better.

> Download the rules governing the Prescrire Awards (pdf in French)

Lack of transparency persists
On the whole, pharmaceutical companies provide Prescrire with a lot of information, some new and some that we have already obtained elsewhere. But they are less cooperative when asked to provide relevant, detailed documentation, including unpublished data, which may for example contain details about adverse effects.

Some companies choose to be transparent with Prescrire and demonstrate this by sending us quality information. These companies are placed on the Honours List. And those rated as "Outstanding" provided us with useful, detailed data without delay and sometimes without being asked.

Other drug companies fail to respond to some or all of our requests for information, or provide only limited data. Some of them delay their response, then fail to provide usable information. Some omit the most important or sensitive data. Red Cards are given to highlight persistent deficiencies in the provision of information by certain drug companies.

As in previous years, few pharmaceutical companies embraced transparency in 2016 by agreeing to share all the data they hold with healthcare professionals. Yet transparency demonstrates a company's commitment to improving medication safety.

Quality of information from pharmaceutical  companies

We use a 4-point scale to rate the quality of the information provided by companies in response to our systematic requests
Information approfondie   Information restreinte   Information minimale    Rétention d'information
> Prescrire's information ratings

©Prescrire February 2017

"The Prescrire Awards 2016" Prescrire Int 2017; 26 (180): 79-83. Pdf, free