What do Urgo laboratories have in common with dental equipment manufacturers GACD and Promodentaire? All three were convicted in 2021 and 2017 respectively for failing to comply with the “anti-gift law.” Each of them delivered watches, bottles of champagne, smartphones and other rewards to thousands of practitioners. About 8,000 pharmacists – including the last Minister of Health in the Bornean government, Agnès Firmin le Baudot – for Urgo, about the same number of dental surgeons for GACD and Promodentaire, according to the Directorate General of Competition, Consumption and Anti-Fraud (DGCCRF).
These rules prohibiting gifts began to apply in 1993. The goal was to regulate the benefits offered by manufacturers of medical equipment (dental equipment, dressings, prostheses, etc.) to health care workers. It is clear that the latter are guided solely by medical considerations, without personal or financial motivation.
It was strengthened in 2020, and the rule is simple: a manufacturer is prohibited from offering benefits in cash or in kind to doctors, pharmacists and other practitioners…who are prohibited from accepting them. “Now everyone in health care is concerned, including students,” says Caroline Lantero, a lawyer who specializes in health law.
Like any rule, the anti-gift law has exceptions, which can be divided into two types. Rewards of “insignificant” value are allowed, for example stationery items of 20 euros. As well as expenses for hospitality or training for professional use, provided that they do not exceed a certain ceiling and are declared in the Transparence.sante.gouv.fr database.
“In this way, authorities can monitor the practices of economic operators in terms of providing authorized benefits; gifts are in principle prohibited or must be of negligible value,” summarizes the DGCCRF. In case of abuse, the manufacturer faces up to two years in prison and a fine of 750 thousand euros. Medical professionals involved face up to one year in prison and a maximum payment of €75,000.
Source: Le Parisien
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