ABPI President Slams UK's Prodigy Scheme

Speaking at the annual dinner of the Association of the BritishPharmaceutical Industry in London last week, its president, Peter Read, told diners that the industry is extremely concerned about the limitations imposed by the restriction of therapeutic choice in the current Prodigy project [the still on-trial, computer-based information system for general practitioners] and, he said, "the widespread use of a deeply-flawed system such as Prodigy could set back the therapeutic opportunity clock for many patients by as much as 20 or 30 years."

Dr Read added that "it should alarm many doctors and patients to learn that, although there are some 6,000 pharmaceutical preparations currently in the British National Formulary and MIMS [a physicians desk-reference], only 611 of these are included in the Prodigy Phase One. And it will certainly alarm them to learn that only 27 of these are under five years old, and only three of these are under two years old."

According to Dr Read, this "clearly demonstrates the failure of Prodigy to provide advances in medicine through new products and presentations." The ABPI, he said, supports the use of information technology if it helps in "the use of the best, most cost-effective and most appropriate treatments - but not the cheapest option for short-term cost savings."