OTC advertising regulations to be relaxed
pharmafile | October 21, 2003 | News story | |
A ban on advertising some OTC medicines could be lifted as part of the Government drive to create a patient-centred NHS.
Most OTC medicines can be freely advertised to the public but treatments for several therapeutics areas are currently banned from being promoted. These include bone, cardiovascular and liver diseases, psychiatric and rheumatic diseases, as well as serious disorders of the skin, eyes and ears, and serious gastrointestinal, neurological and respiratory diseases.
Health Minister Lord Hunt said: "In today's modern health service, consumers should be able to receive information about medicines they can self purchase, empowering them to manage their own conditions where it is safe to do so. Existing controls on other forms of advertising will continue, where necessary, particularly for prescription only products, to protect public safety."
The proposed amendments only apply to UK-specific legislation and do not affect EU legislation that prohibits the advertising of OTC medicines for conditions such as chronic insomnia, diabetes, malignant diseases, serious infectious and sexually transmitted diseases. The ban on advertising prescription-only medicines will be unaffected.
The MCA said it would draw up best practice guidelines with stakeholders for the promotion of the products, which may include extensions of existing guidelines or new ones. It added that companies may need to invest in pharmacy training and education schemes ahead of such promotion.
The MCA is now inviting stakeholders to return comments to it by the 27 January 2003.
The advertising of prescription only medicines within the EU continues to be thorny issue, with MEPs recently rejecting proposals that would allow pharma companies to provide disease information to HIV/AIDS, asthma and diabetes patients.
