Dr John O'Connell is believed to have received up to £4 million (€5 million) from the sale of his company, Medical Publications (Ireland Ltd) earlier this year. The former Government minister exited the medical publishing business in a buyout by the UK group Reed Elsevier plc.
Publisher of the Irish Medical Times and of MIMS, the monthly index of specialities, a prescribing guide for general practitioners, Medical Publications Ireland is understood to have potential annual profits of £500,000.
Reed failed to secure the other major Irish medical publisher, Eireann Publications, despite an offer of £2.5 million. This would have given it control of Medicine Weekly and a broad range of monthly publications, including Hospital Doctor and Modern Medicine of Ireland.
It is an indication of Reed's Irish strategy that it was prepared to take over the two principal players in Irish medical publishing, a business which enjoys a huge advertising spend by the pharmaceutical industry. Because direct-to-consumer advertising is banned for prescription medicines, pharmaceutical companies are restricted to advertising in specialist medical publications.
Meanwhile, two new medical websites are set to go head to head following launches during June. The VHI's strategy is to offer "added value" for its many customers who never make a claim on their policies. It has bought the licence to adapt a US patient information website for the Irish consumer.
At present, the VHI health website www.vhihealth.com is open to anyone, although subscribers do enjoy the facility of a call back response to specific health inquiries. A personalised weekly health newsletter is also available.
MedMedia has launched www.irishhealth.com in preview format and will go fully live in August. MedMedia is writing its healthcare information from scratch from an Irish perspective. Its strategy is to create an independent online health community, bringing together doctors, nurses and voluntary groups.
Should the EU allow direct-to-consumer marketing for prescribed drugs, as some analysts are predicting, then the medical publishing world is set for even more change in the short to medium term.
