Healthy Skepticism Library item: 17099

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

Ferring and Stiefel named and shamed for Code breaches
InPharm 2010 Jan 12
http://www.inpharm.com/news/ferring-and-stiefel-named-and-shamed-code-breaches

Full text:

Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Stiefel Laboratories have been named and shamed for breaching the ABPI Code of Practice.

Adverts giving details about the cases appeared in the BMJ, The Pharmaceutical Journal and The Nursing Standard in December.

Stiefel’s misdemeanour was to present the output of a company-run meeting as an independent supplement to a medical journal.

A GP and a pharmacist complained about the insert on the management of mild and moderate acne vulgaris using Duac Once Daily Gel (dindamicyn 1% and benzoyl peroxide 5%).

Consistent with recent cases regarding sponsored insets, this activity was deemed to contravene clause 2 of UK pharma’s Code of Practice, which deals with bringing discredit upon, and reducing confidence in, the industry.

Ferring, meanwhile, has breached several more clauses, according to the ABPI’s arms-length Code overseer the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA).

The company voluntarily admitted that Ferring’s public relations agency sent unapproved copy about prescription-only medicine Firmagon (degarelix) to a patient organisation.

The agency edited Ferring’s approved information about the drug, which is indicated for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer, and the patient group used this to develop content on its own website.

The agency had left out a number of key elements from the original, including side effects, background data on prostate cancer and comments from a clinical urologist.

It also added the sentence “Ask your doctor for more information about FIRMAGON” and exaggerated the time taken by LHRH agonists to achieve castrate levels of testosterone.

As well as being found guilty of a clause 2 infringement, the PMCPA cited Ferring on four more counts.

These were: failing to maintain high standards (clause 9.1), failing to certify information provided to a patient organisation (clause 14.3) and encouraging members of the public to ask their health professional to prescribe a specific prescription-only medicine (clause 22.2).

The PMCPA said Ferring had also influenced the text of patient organisation material in a manner favourable to a company’s commercial interests (clause 23.6).

Changes were made to the website text after about a month.