4 July 2017 – MedTech Europe, the European trade association representing the medical technology industries, launched the Ethical MedTech online portal to bolster ethical and compliance initiatives of the sector.

Ethical MedTech paves the way for the phasing out of direct support to Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) attending Third Party Organised Educational Events, due to enter into force on 1 January 2018. This is one of the key changes introduced by MedTech Europe’s new Code of Ethical Business Practice, a stringent self-regulation effective since January this year. The Code substitutes this direct support with a system of Educational Grants that includes solid transparency rules.

The Ethical MedTech launch took place on 4 July, in Brussels, and was preceded by an interactive workshop which enabled Healthcare Organisations (HCOs) and Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs) to discuss how the Code impacts them and to offer insights into our latest initiative - the Ethical Charter.

“The Ethical Charter - one of the three pillars of Ethical MedTech - is a unique initiative aiming to alleviate some of the concerns raised by our partners, the scientific societies and PCOs, as well as our members”, said Serge Bernasconi, CEO of MedTech Europe.

He also added that HCOs and PCOs are among the main beneficiaries of our Ethical MedTech project.

“The Ethical Charter aims to streamline industry’s collaboration with HCOs and PCOs by attesting their commitment to uphold our Code. In doing so, we simplify, clarify and strengthen these relationships.”

Ethical MedTech pillars

The Ethical Charter is a voluntary certification system showing third parties’ commitment to comply with MedTech Europe’s ethical standards when interacting with the industry. This will facilitate industry support to independent medical education.

At present, Ethical MedTech also hosts two additional initiatives: the Conference Vetting System (CVS) and the Transparent MedTech pillar.

Since its introduction in 2012, the recently updated CVS acts an independently managed system that reviews the compliance of Third Party Organised Educational Events with the Code. For each case, the CVS determines the appropriateness for member companies to provide financial support to such Events in the form of Educational Grants or commercial activities (e.g. booths, advertising, satellite symposium).Meanwhile, Transparent MedTech provides a centralised European platform that medical technology companies must use to publicly disclose their financial support for independent medical education as from 2018.

Our Code

The relationship of the medical technology industry with HCPs and HCOs is essential for both the development of innovative technologies, and their safe and effective use. MedTech Europe’s Code sets out the minimum mandatory standards to ensure that this collaboration can continue to benefit patients and healthcare systems.

About us

MedTech Europe is the European trade association representing the medical technology industries, from diagnosis to cure. Our members are multinational companies and national medical technology associations operating in Europe and worldwide.

There are more than 500,000 products, services and solutions currently made available by the medical technology industry. These range from bandages, blood tests and hearing aids to cancer screening tests, pacemakers and glucose monitors.

Our sector employs more than 650,000 people. There are more than 26,000 medical technology companies in Europe, of which 95% are SMEs.

Contact

For more information on our Ethical MedTech initiative, our Code of Ethical Business Practice or the medical technology sector please contact MedTech Europe’s Communications Senior Manager Jerick Parrone at j.parrone@medtecheurope.org.