Drugs company falls foul of regulators

The company which made false claims over Ribena has fallen foul of regulators over another advertising campaign.

GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, withdrew a drug advertising campaign after it was accused of misrepresenting the code of patients' rights.

GSK ran the "ask for it by name" magazine and website campaign in December, promoting three of the company's medicines, including asthma inhaler Ventolin.

The ad said: "When you know it and trust it ask for it by name. If your doctor or pharmacist offers you an alternative to your present pharmaceutical brand, you have the right to insist you remain on the medicine you know and trust."

The "right to insist" was attributed to the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights.

However, the code, a Government regulation, contains no such right, although it does give patients the right to be informed about treatment options. GSK stopped the campaign after a complaint from Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson, the official guardian of the patients' rights code.

"Patients have a right to information, but not a right to insist," he said yesterday. "I was amazed to see the claim made because in my view it was without foundation and was misleading."

In a ruling released yesterday, Advertising Standards Complaints Board chairwoman Jenny Robson said Mr Paterson's complaint was "settled" because the ad was withdrawn as soon as he raised his concerns.

GSK New Zealand yesterday stood by its view patients had "a right to make an informed choice when faced with multiple brands of the same medicine".

In 2007, GSK was fined after admitting it had made false and misleading public claims over the vitamin C content of Ribena.

PATIENTS' RIGHTS
* Effective communication
* Full information
* Informed choice

NOT:
* "To insist" on the exact medicine they receive