When is a drug ad not a drug ad?

The answer, according to EC’s latest consultation paper on the issue, is when it’s ‘non-promotional information’.

The European Commission’s draft proposals on drug information provision are causing quite a stir. Not least because the process of deciding what constitutes ‘information’ rather than ‘advertising’ appear so heavily skewed towards the pharmaceutical industry.

This consultation is a significant point in the debate about direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs.

Consumers International has come out strongly against the EC’s suggested approach with an official response to the consultation. CI argues the EC is opening the door for the drugs industry to push prescriptions drugs directly to consumers in Europe.

It is vital that the concerns of European consumers are considered if we are to avoid sleepwalking towards US-style drug advertising, disease mongering, and the dreaded Pharma TV.

These concerns have also been raised by the British Medical Journal. The BMJ’s assistant editor Tessa Richards drew attention to the dangers in a comment piece in the March ‘08 edition:

“Many argue that allowing the drug industry to use the internet, radio, and television to propagate messages about its products is tantamount to opening the promotional floodgates”

The full editorial is well worth a read for a fuller understanding of what the EC’s drug promotion consultation actually means.

You can also get a snap shot of the issues from the three-minute Marketing Overdose film – Pharma Facts: Informing the Public, featured above.