Doctors and nurses demand answers over Novo’s ranking list

Doctors and nurses in Denmark are seeking answers from Novo Nordisk after an internal database ranking nearly 7,000 healthcare professionals by their commercial value to the company and loyalty to its medicines, DR reports.

The material, first reported by trade publication Ingeniøren and also reviewed in part by DR, ranks doctors and nurses from A to D, with A representing the highest commercial value. It also includes information about how much they prescribe and which medicines they know about.

The Danish Medical Association and the Danish Nurses Organization want Novo to explain how it uses the list and why there has been little transparency. Novo says it complied with applicable laws and rules.

Danish Medical Association president Josephine Rathenborg said many doctors were listed without knowing they had been registered. She said the association would contact Novo and relevant authorities to clarify whether the company had a legal basis to obtain and store the data in this way.

Danish Nurses Organization chair Dorthe Boe Danbjørg said the ranking could cast doubt on healthcare professionals’ integrity. Rathenborg also warned that patients might question whether a prescription was needed or was a sales tactic.

Novo told DR that its collaborations with healthcare professionals are governed by laws and ethical rules, which it follows. Law professor Jan Trzaskowski of Aalborg University said a company can in principle keep a list of potential customers and partners, but the legality depends on how intrusive the handling of the information is. He said assessments of professionals’ practices or views on medicines may require consent, and that transparency is also needed.

The data emerged after hacker group FulcrumSec claimed in June that it had copied large amounts of Novo’s data. The group provided some of the material to Ingeniøren.