Roche and Bayer Schering ‘named and shamed’ for Code breaches

pharmafile | March 3, 2009 | News story | Sales and Marketing |  ABPI, Code of Practice 

Roche and Bayer Schering Pharma have been publically reprimanded for bringing discredit upon the UK pharma industry.

Bayer fell foul of the Code of Practice for promoting its anti-coagulant Xarelto to healthcare professionals before it was approved.

Meanwhile Roche’s offer of gift vouchers for children who took their prescribed medicines was judged “totally unacceptable”.

The two companies are the latest to be ‘named and shamed’ by the industry’s watchdog the PMCPA, which has put notices in healthcare professionals’ journals detailing their mistakes.

Advertisement

Pulmozyme vouchers

Roche’s patient adherence and incentive scheme offered children with cystic fibrosis £10 gift vouchers in return for collecting caps from their Pulmozyme treatment.

The PMCPA ruled the scheme, which ran from 2004 to 2008, was likely to encourage patients to ask for specific prescription-only medicine.

The Code of Practice regulator accepted that there are difficulties with adherence but did not consider Roche’s scheme was a way of encouraging patients to take their medicine.

Its complaint panel was “very concerned about a pharmaceutical company in effect providing cash as an incentive to patients to use its medicine”.

Roche’s involvement is particularly embarrassing for the company, coming just weeks after the end of its six-month suspension from the ABPI for earlier Code infractions.

Xarelto promotion

Bayer’s Code breach centred around the repeated promotion of its anti-coagulant Xarelto in the UK by its Irish affiliates before the drug had a UK marketing authorisation.

The company also didn’t prominently acknowledge sponsorship of a paid-for supplement and the supplement didn’t present up-to-date data.

Adverts publicising the details of both cases will be run in the BMJ, The Pharmaceutical Journal and The Nursing Standard.

Related stories:

Roche rejoins ABPI after six-month suspension

Monday, February 23, 2009

Roche suspended from ABPI

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Related Content

pharmafocus_november_2020_cover

The November 2020 issue of Pharmafocus is available to read free online now!

The latest monthly edition of Pharmafocus is available to read for free online now!

brexit-hintergrund_web

UK life sciences industry does not want no-deal Brexit, says ABPI Chief

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s sudden change of position that the UK is now expecting a …

mike-thompson-blue-bg

ABPI Chief Executive Mike Thompson to retire by the end of 2019

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has announced that its Chief Executive Mike …

The Gateway to Local Adoption Series

Latest content