E-DRUG: Breaches of Drug Promotion Code
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The Australian Prescriber has published the list of breaches of the
Code of Conduct for promotion of prescription drugs in 2005.
The full table can be downloaded from:
http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazine/29/1
Most of the complaints were concerned with how drugs were advertised
to the public. Commonly the 'culprits' were advised to withdraw all
advertising material. Sometimes they were also directed to publish
correctional material. In many cases a fine was imposed. As well as
the direction to withdraw promotional material, the largest fine -
$100,000 - was concerned with the promotion of vardenafil to the
public by Bayer and GlaxoSmithKline
If you can't download it and would like a pdf copy of the article,
including the tables, contact me: bev@burnet.edu.au
Beverley Snell
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Australian Prescriber, volume 29 number 1 February 2006
Medicines Australia Code of Conduct: breaches
Medicines Australia has a code of conduct to guide the promotion of
prescription drugs by pharmaceutical companies in Australia.1
Complaints are reviewed by the Code of Conduct Committee and the
results are published in its annual report. The report for 2005 is
available on the Medicines Australia website.2
There were 51 new complaints in 2004-05. Four of these were withdrawn
and three are unresolved. As the report includes two complaints held
over from the previous year, it contains 46 cases completed by the
Code of Conduct Committee.
As usual most of the complaints came from rival companies. It is
possible that some complaints are part of a company's strategy as it
jostles for market share. In some cases the Code of Conduct Committee
had to decide if complainants were abusing the Code.
In 2005 there were 35 complaints in which at least one breach of the
Code was found (Table 1), however one case was dismissed on appeal
(it involved a $50 000 fine for offering a $500 fee for attending a
round table meeting). Details of the complaints can be found in the
annual report.2
References
1. Medicines Australia. Code of Conduct. 14th ed. Canberra: Medicines
Australia; 2003.
2. 2005 Code of Conduct Annual Report. Canberra: Medicines Australia; 2005.
www.medicinesaustralia.com.au
Note: Edition 15 of the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct is
available from: Medicines Australia
Website: www.medicinesaustralia.com.au
--
Beverley Snell
Senior Fellow
Centre for International Health
Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research & Public Health
GPO Box 2284, Melbourne 3001 Australia
http://www.burnet.internationalhealth.edu.au
Telephone 613 9282 2115 / 9282 2275
Fax 61 3 9282 2144 or 9282 2100
Time zone: 11 hours ahead of GMT.
email <bev@burnet.edu.au>
Site: Alfred Medical Research & Education Precinct (AMREP),
85 Commercial Road, Prahran 3181