Healthy Skepticism Library item: 20074

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: Magazine

Fleming K
Changes ordered to 40 software ads to comply with code
Medical Observer 2005 Sep 152

Full text:

Forty advertisements on GP prescribing software Medical Director will be changed because the Medicines Australia monitoring committee suspected they breached the industry code of conduct.

The committee found 40 ads for 27 different medications on Medical Director 2.83 that it believe breached the code.

A complaint from La Trobe University public health lecturer Dr Ken Harvey resulted in seven ads on version 2.81 being found in breach last month.

Medicines Australia spokeswoman Deborah Monk said none of the 40 ads were previously found in breach on the 2.81 version.

Ms Monk said the 13 companies responsible for the 40 ads had or would make the necessary changes to comply with the code and were unlikely to be referred to the independent code of conduct committee as a formal complaint.

The monitoring committee had no current plans to review Medical Director 3.