Healthy Skepticism Library item: 10611

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Cresswell A.
Roche court action over TV ad ban
The Australian 2007 Jun 21
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21944626-23289,00.html

Full text:

DRUG giant Roche has hit back at medicine regulators who banned TV ads for its weight-loss drug Xenical, launching court action against a key committee and its 20 individual members.
Independent experts say they are “appalled” by Roche’s move, which has come to light just days before the National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee is due to meet to discuss whether to confirm the advertising ban.

Consumer organisation Choice _ which has been subpoenaed to appear in the Federal Court case in Sydney next month _ also accused Roche of “bully boy tactics” and said the company should “not be using its corporate and financial muscle to attempt to influence a government committee”.

Xenical _ which works by blocking the absorption of fat in the intestines _ has been available in Australia since 2000, but until last year was available to patients only with a doctor’s prescription.

It is licensed for use only in obese patients with a body mass index of 35 or above, or 30 or above for patients who also have complications such as diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure.

Last year the restrictions on Xenical were relaxed to make it available without a prescription. The advertising ban that normally applies to prescription drugs was also lifted.

But that advertising ban was reimposed in February after the NDPSC heard complaints from Choice that Xenical advertisements were being run during the Australian Idol TV program, which the consumer group said showed Roche was targeting the drug at healthy young females.

A Choice spokeswoman said greater availability for Xenical translated into “big earnings” for Roche, which “explains why Roche has taken a desperate step in taking legal action against the NDPSC”.

A spokeswoman for Roche said the company disagreed with the NDPSC’s decision and “is pursuing its right to challenge that decision via the appropriate channels”.

“Roche believes that further debate and discussion should be left to the court,” she said.