Healthy Skepticism Library item: 20080

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

Kelly S
HCN denies Medical Director breaches advertising code
Medical Observer 2005 Feb 22

Full text:

Health Communication Network (HCN) has rejected claims that its flagship software program, Medical Director, breaches the Medicines Australia code of conduct.

The Australian Consumers’ Association has claimed that Medical Director’s on-screen advertising for pharmaceuticals is in breach of the code.

Breaches of the code of Medicines Australia, the peak representative body for research-based pharmaceutical companies, can attract fines of up to $200,000.

Claims of the breach arose from the preliminary findings of a study by academics from La Trobe University and the University of South Australia evaluating on Medical Director against the code of conduct. One of the co-authors of the study, La Trobe’s public health lecturer, Dr Ken Harvery, said he expected the study to lead to a number of formal complaints against Medical Director.

Dr Harvey alleged that code breaches included the generic names of drug being “hard to decipher” and that the ability of patients to see the screen “is in breach of the fundamental requirement that you shouldn’t advertise to patients”.

HCN medical director, Dr Andrew Magennis, has systematically denied the allegations and rejects any suggestion that Medical Director could also be breaching laws banning direct-to-consumer advertising.

Medicines Australia director, scientific and technical affairs, Deborah Monk, who is responsible for the drafting of a new code, said the claims were “certainly something we’d take a look at”, but that she would wait for a formal complaint before taking action.

A new code is due to be published in January 2006.

Dr Harvey had hoped that the General Practice Computing Group (GPCG) would discuss pharmaceutical advertising on doctors’ software at its next meeting, but the GPCP claims the issue is not on the agenda.