Protest against pharmaceutical lobbyist at the top of the medical market regulator grows | attack Austria

With Helga Tieben, of all people, an employee of the pharmaceutical association Pharmig is to become the new head of the Austrian medical market supervisory authority in AGES. The protest against it is growing: already more than 5600 people have one Protest mail to the responsible Minister of Health gesendet. They call on the new minister, Johannes Rauch, not to appoint a pharmaceutical lobbyist to head the medical market supervisory authority.

In a Video Interview Tieben described the drug approval as "enormously regulated" and complained, for example, about the "strict corset of the regulations". Your goal is that there should be "no hurdles" so that products come to the market.

"Tieben is obviously unsuitable for independently managing the medical market supervision. In contrast to his predecessor, who was inactive here, the new Health Minister Rauch can no longer ignore this scandalous appointment. The medical market supervisory authority should be managed by a person who has professional qualifications and a sufficiently critical distance from the pharmaceutical industry,” demands Iris Frey from Attac Austria.

The conflicts of interest in Tieben's appointment are obvious:
 

• The pharmaceutical industry has an interest in ensuring that as many drugs as possible are classified as useful and approved as quickly as possible in order to make a profit from them. This is completely unacceptable from a medical-ethical point of view. 
• The appointment therefore carries the risk of additional financial burdens for the Austrian healthcare system.
• Helga Tieben does not meet the compliance rules of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). These require a 3-year cool-down period for such functions. Tieben can therefore not attend EMA Management Board meetings for three years take part. Austria would thus be cut off from important information and the medical market supervisory authority would suffer enormous damage.
• The assignment of posts contradicts all international standards for filling such authorities. In addition, according to media reports, Ms. Tieben does not meet any formal requirements. This includes, for example, a medical or scientific degree. 
• Due to Ms. Tieben's connections and networks, there is a risk of sensitive information being passed on to the pharmaceutical industry.

Former Minister of Health Mückstein had argued that he had no influence on the order. But with Katharina Reich, his section head for public health was a member of the AGES Hearing Commission. Political responsibility therefore lies with the current Minister of Health.

background objects

The Austrian medical market supervisory authority is responsible for extremely sensitive areas. This includes the national contributions to the European drug approval (EMA), the supervision of the Austrian medical market (drug safety and inspection) as well as the clinical testing of drugs and medical devices.

International is from the European Medicines Agency requires a 3-year cool-down period for such functions. A period of 3 years is also specified in the now common disclosure of conflicts of interest.