Consumers’ Association slams pharmaceutical watchdog
The Consumers’ Association has attacked the Government’s pharmaceutical watchdog for failing to properly scrutinise adverts by pharmaceutical companies.
One of the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency’s key roles is ensuring that claims made by manufacturers are not misleading, but are based on clinical evidence.
In the last year, pharmaceutical companies have withdrawn three such advertisements following scrutiny by the Consumers’ Association, leading it to attack the MHRA for letting firms slip through the net.
An oral contraceptive pill ‘Cerazette’ is the latest product to be affected. The Consumers’ Association published an article attacking an advert for the product that claimed it was as effective as combined oral contraceptives. The article suggested there was no rigorous scientific basis for such a claim.
With greater emphasis being placed on public choice, and greater powers for local service providers in the NHS, misleading information can seriously hamper decision-making. As such, advertisements placed by pharmaceutical firms have become a significant concern to the Government and the Consumers’ Association.
The latest incident has also prompted the consumer watchdog to accuse the pharmaceutical industry of being ‘incapable’ of providing the public with the information they need.
Wendy Garlick, principal policy adviser to the Consumers’ Association, commented: ‘The fact that yet another advert has had to be withdrawn not only calls into question the ability of the MHRA to do its job, but highlights the fact that drug companies are incapable of communicating honestly with health care professionals, let alone the public.’
The MHRA has also come under fire in other areas, such as allowing some antidepressants to be prescribed to children as young as six.
