The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7397 p471
22 April 2006

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Tesco drops illegal Nurofen promotion

Tesco has withdrawn a sales promotion after being told by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency that giving away free medicines is illegal.

The company was giving away eight tablet packs of Nurofen to customers who bought packs of Nurofen Heat patches. Tesco said that an administrative error had led to the promotion being loaded on the company’s computer system as a free offer rather than a discount.

Jeremy Mean, MHRA policy group manager, said: “Medicines … should not be given away like sweets. Companies can compete on price but promotions that include free medicines are not acceptable.”