MHRA to force up medicine advertising standards
All reviews of medicines advertisements carried out by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will be published on the internet to try to force
up standards.
Announcing new guidance
(PDF 360K) on medicines advertisements this week, Kent Woods,
MHRA chief executive, said: “Most pharmaceutical advertising is
carefully and responsibly put together and the very best advertising
helps health professionals and the public to make informed choices about
health care. However, we have seen a number of examples of poor practice,
where advertising is confusing or misleading.” As well as publishing
reviews of advertisements, the MHRA is to start naming companies that
demonstrate poor practice.
Companies that regularly break advertising guidelines will have their
entire advertising portfolio examined. Prosecutions will be launched
against companies whose advertisements break the law.
An MHRA spokeswoman said that the MHRA was not seeking to supplant the
Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry’s voluntary
code of practice. “The MHRA still supports that code as a way of
self-regulating,” she said. “It will be making sure that
if companies don’t adhere to the voluntary code there is a firm
system in place.”
ABPI director general Richard Barker said: “The pharmaceutical
industry has a robust, effective system of self-regulation, supported
by the MHRA’s statutory role.”
“We and the MHRA believe that this system acts in the best interests
of patients, health care professionals, the NHS and the industry,” he
added. |
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