ApoPharma and AstraZeneca face advert breaches

Two leading companies, which placed adverts in the medical and pharmaceutical press, have been found to be in breach of an industry code of practice.

ApoPharma and AstraZeneca breached The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry's code for adverts that appeared in last week's BMJ magazine and The Pharmaceutical Journal.

ApoPharma breached the code by re-advertising a claim that had previously been in breach of a code.

The company was in breach of the following clauses within the code - namely:

· Clause 2 - Bringing discredit upon, or reducing confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry.

· Clause 7.2 - Failing to ensure that all claims are accurate, balanced, fair, unambiguous and based on up-to-date evidence.

· Clause 9.1 - Failing to maintain a high standard.

· Clause 22 - Failing to comply with an undertaking.

And AstraZeneca breached the code by placing an insert in The Pharmaceutical Journal, which seen to be a disguised product promotion.

The company was found to be in breach of the following clauses of the Code:

· Clause 2 - Bringing discredit upon, or reducing confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry.

· Clause 4.1- Failing to include prescribing information.

· Clause 7.2 - Failing to ensure that all claims are accurate, balanced, fair, unambiguous and based on up-to-date evidence.

· Clause 7.4 - Making claims which could not be substantiated.

· Clause 7.10 - Failing to encourage the rational use of a medicine.

· Clause 9.1- Failing to maintain a high standard.

· Clause 10.1- Disguising promotional material and activities.

Under provisions in the Constitution and Procedure, the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) advertises brief details of all cases where companies are ruled in breach of Clause 2 of the Code, are required to issue a corrective statement or are the subject of a public reprimand.