Brazil News
| BRASILIA – New regulations go into effect today in Brazil that restrict the ways doctors may communicate with their patients. The resolution of the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) was published in the Official Gazette (Diário Oficialda da União) on August 19th, 2011 and take force 180 days later.
Official Gazette of Brazil (Image: resumodicas.blogspot.com)
One of the highlights of the new rule is the prohibition of consultations by phone and internet. The goal of the new rules is to prevent doctors from exclusively offering services at a distance. In the view of the CFM, the physical consultation is irreplaceable.
The measure does not restrict physicians from answering routine questions by phone:
“The doctor can, however, give advice via telephone to existing patients, to whom contact information has been previously provided, to answer questions in relation to a prescribed medication, for example,” states the rule.
The use of social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, by doctors also has restrictions. They may not be used to recruit new patients, and can be used only for such things as disseminating office hours and contact information.
In advertizements, doctors can not claim exclusivity of some kind of treatment. Also, photographs of patients, such as pictures “before and after” are banned. These types of photos can only be used at professional medical conferences, if necessary, and with the consent of the patient.
Medical devices can be cited for their clinical features, provided they are not offered a guarantee of a successful treatment. Actors can participate in advertizing but cannot say or suggest the use of medical devices.
Under the new rules, a doctor may only advertize two specialties, even if he has more than that.
The new rules also regulate the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and doctors. Among other things, laboratories can not pay doctors to prescribe their medications.
Read also: More Articles from BD
Source(s) for this article: G1 Science and Health
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