France's LEEM hosts week-long public debates

France's drug industry association (LEEM) has announced the timetable for its week-long series of debates and other public events for the second annual "Medications, let's talk about them" week, with the theme this year of "Has Innovation broken down?" (Marketletter October 15). A number of these are hosted in Paris from October 15-21.

On the Monday, at the Gare St Lazare, the Association France Alzheimer and the LEEM are co-hosting a debate on the topic: Alzheimer's disease, where are we at? The debate is open to members of patient groups and the general public and is organized to coincide with an exhibition about the condition.

On the Tuesday, a gathering of parliamentarians under the chairmanship of former Prime Minister and current Senator Jean-Pierre Raffarin (Union for a Popular Movement [UMP], Vienne) at the Maison des Arts et Metiers will discuss three topics: have there been genuine therapeutic advances in the past 10 years; can treatment innovation be a generator of economic growth; and what is to be done to ensure that France remains a leading center of pharmaceutical innovation? On the same day, a student group will host the first of two debates on health care responsibility at the Cafe Basile (the second being held on the Thursday).