Pharmaceutical Technologist - March 2008 - (Page 15)

The rational inquirer Examining the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of conducting internal investigations. M ore and more companies find themselves compelled to launch internal investigations to address suspicions of employee misconduct. While pharmaceutical companies face many of the same risks as other businesses, such as accounting fraud, they also have to deal with more specific problems, such as potential breaches of, for example, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry’s code of practice and the risk that members of their sales forces may be vulnerable to bribery. The risks of bribery are particularly high where commission-driven sales representatives are operating in countries where the company does not have a developed management structure or strong presence. In these environments, poorly paid public officials could be more tempted to request or accept a bribe. In July 2007, the execution in China of Zheng Xiaoyu, the former chief food and drug regulator, for taking bribes from eight pharmaceutical companies to approve medicines (some of which led to the deaths of patients), highlights bribery as a significant problem. In the UK, employment law has much to say about the various issues or questions that can arise when conducting an internal investigation becomes necessary. Philip Davies Searching for evidence The extent of restrictions imposed by the UK Data Protection Act 1998 depends on what stage of the investigation has been reached. At the pre-investigation stage, where a company may be considering implementing preventative measures, such as general employee monitoring before any wrongdoing is known or believed to have occurred, data privacy laws are more restrictive because the focus of the investigation is wider and the underlying justification for the actions is perceived to be weaker. If an employer intends to make use of closed circuit television in these circumstances, it must first notify any affected employees, and cannot do so in private areas such as lavatories. However, the situation is different when a company has credible evidence that certain www.ptemagazine.com 15 http://www.ptemagazine.com

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Pharmaceutical Technologist - March 2008 Contents News Morpheus Market Watch E-procurement Means Lean Procurement The Rational Enquirer Simulating for Success Q&A

Pharmaceutical Technologist - March 2008

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