James has been summoned to give evidence to the committee on 16 December. James, who in 1986 co-founded PR agency Shire Health before joining the Ogilvy board this September, said she expected the committee to be ‘aggressive’ in its questioning.
‘Given the hostile atmosphere at the moment towards the pharma industry I imagine [the line of questioning] will be quite aggressive,’ she said.
The inquiry is examining, among other issues, the impact of the pharma industry on the provision of drug information and promotion, as well as professional and patient education.