The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7461 p65
21 July 2007

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Reprimands for three companies

Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline and Roche are to be publicly reprimanded in advertisements that will be taken out by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority.

Bayer (PDF 130K) was reprimanded because it failed to withdraw a promotional leaflet despite having given an undertaking to do so after it had been found not to comply with the code. The failure had been an oversight, but was found to have brought discredit on, and undermined confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry.

GSK (PDF 170K) was reprimanded for conducting a disease awareness campaign among prescribers that was tantamount to promoting a product before it had been granted a marketing authorisation.

In the case of Roche (PDF 140K), the reprimand was handed out even though the company had not broken the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry’s code of practice, which is enforced by the PMCPA.

The company was ruled not to have broken the code by paying for journalists to attend a meeting. But further consideration of the case by the PMCPA appeal board found that Roche had provided inaccurate information to the authority in support of its case.

The false information had no effect on the ruling, but the appeal board decided to issue a public reprimand because the effectiveness of self-regulation relied on the integrity of information being provided by pharmaceutical companies.