The competition watchdog had demanded that pharmaceutical companies publicly declare the names of any doctors who accept payment for speaking or attending conferences, as a condition of its support for a new code of conduct.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has given its conditional support for Medicine Australia's code of conduct for five years but called for a provision requiring pharmaceutical companies to withdraw from any payment deal, should doctors not consent to their details being disclosed.

The ACCC wants the names of doctors who accept payment from drug companies to speak or attend conferences to be disclosed. Credit:Virginia Star

The code sets the standards for the marketing and promotion of prescription pharmaceutical products in Australia.

In its proposed form, put before the ACCC, the code includes a provision that would require companies to report any fees paid to doctors, unless the doctors objected. But the ACCC said this does not go far enough.