Digg It - Finance

The financial services industry is highly regulated and companies selling financial products or advice must adhere to a stringent set of guidelines set out by the industry’s ind

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

ependent regulatory body, the Financial Services Authority. The FSA has wide-ranging rule-making, enforcement and investigatory powers and your rights as a consumer are well pr

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

tected.

The aim of the FSA is to ‘promote efficient, orderly and fair markets and to help retail consumers achieve a fair deal’ (source: www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/About/What/index.s

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

tml), and it has four principle objectives: to promote confidence in the industry, to increase public understanding of the financial system, to protect consumers and to reduce

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

inancial crime.

Companies must be authorised by the FSA in order to sell financial products and services. This includes banks, building societies, investment companies, mortgag

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

providers, insurance firms, financial advisors and pensions sellers. They must comply with the guidelines set out by the FSA in its Handbook. Broadly speaking, the rules that

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

inancial companies must follow are to:

be trustworthy and financially secure

provide clear information to help you make financial decisions, such as ‘key facts’ and ‘key featur

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

s’ of products and services

give professional, competent advice

have clear and straightforward procedures for making a complaint

inform you about compensation methods

You can

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

ind out whether a company is authorised by the FSA by using the Check Service on the FSA’s website.

If you have a complaint about a financial product or service you have bought

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

you should contact the company in the first instance. If the complaint isn’t resolved to you satisfaction here, you should then contact an independent complaint scheme such as

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

he Financial Ombudsman Service. The Ombudsman will carry out an impartial investigation into the complaint and will attempt to resolve it. You don’t have to accept the Ombudsma

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

’s findings, but if you do they are legally binding on both you and the company with whom you have a complaint. If you don’t agree with the findings and want to take the matter

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

urther, the next step is to take your case to court.

Banks and building societies also have their own voluntary code of conduct for promoting best practice and ensuring that cu

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

tomers are treated fairly and reasonably. Managed by the Banking Code Standards Board, it’s known simply as the Banking Code and most major high street banks have signed up to

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

t. Products and services covered by the Code include bank accounts, overdrafts, loans, credit cards and foreign exchanges.

Some of the key rules to which the participating bank

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

and building societies agree to adhere are:

providing clear information on products and services and how they work

ensuring that promotional material and advertising are accu

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ate and not misleading

keeping customers informed by sending regular statements and telling customers about changes to terms and conditions, charges or interest rates

acting

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

romptly and fairly to deal with complaints when things go wrong

using safe and secure systems and keeping personal information confidential

promoting the Banking Code and ensu

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

ing that employees understand and abide by it

The Banking Code Standards Board isn’t able to investigate individual complaints on behalf of consumers, but its helpdesk can pro

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ide useful information and support. If you have a grievance that you’ve been unable to sort out with the company concerned, you should take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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Digg It - The Financial Industry: Your Rights as a Consumer

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