Voluntary ban on arthritis drug ads

The Advertising Standards Authority has implemented a voluntary ban on the promotion of Cox-2 Inhibitor arthritis drugs after a request from the Ministry of Health.

Authority executive director Glen Wiggs said yesterday it was the first time the standards body had received such a request from the ministry.

"The advertising agencies, the advertisers and all of the media have voluntarily agreed not to run the ads while the investigation is going on," he said.

The ministry's drug safety agency Medsafe is conducting a full review of Cox-2 Inhibitors after a study in the United States found the drug Celebrex doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

It follows the international withdrawal two months ago of the Cox-2 Inhibitor Vioxx because of similar findings.

Mr Wiggs said advertising of all Cox-2 Inhibitors had been stopped by 4pm on Tuesday, two hours after he received the ministry's request.

The fact that it was a voluntary ban was an important distinction, he said.

"We can implement that faster than the Government can without passing any law."

Mobic is a Cox-2 Inhibitor produced by Germany drug company Boehringer Inglheim and distributed in New Zealand through its Auckland office.

Boehringer Inglheim New Zealand's general manager, Darcy Downey, said yesterday the company had pulled its advertising planned for the New Year.

Its sales representatives would also stop promoting Mobic to doctors.

"We were doing very low-key [marketing] to doctors but we'll change that in the new year," he said.

"If a doctor asks we would certainly respond but we won't initiate marketing or promotional activity."

Boehringer Inglheim was fully complying with Medsafe's investigation and had supplied data on its product, Mr Downey said.

"We're waiting to see what the outcome of that is."

Despite agreeing not to advertise Celebrex to consumers, its manufacturer Pfizer said yesterday that it was continuing to promote the drug to doctors.

Pfizer spokesman Tim Jones said the company believed it was important for doctors to have "up-to-the-minute" information to enable them to make decisions for their patients.

"They need to have a balance of all of the information available."

Pfizer distributes another Cox-2 Inhibitor, Bextra, which the company was also continuing to market to doctors, Mr Jones said.

The Government drug-buying agency, Pharmac, accused Pfizer of continuing to aggressively promote Celebrex to doctors.

Pharmac chief executive Wayne McNee said he was disappointed Pfizer continued to market Celebrex after the United States Food and Drug Administration had asked the company to voluntarily withdraw its advertising.

Mr Jones said he was surprised at Pharmac's criticism of Pfizer because it did not subsidise Celebrex.

- NZPA