ProStrakan Group plc, Cephalon UK Limited and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare named in advertisements for breaches of the ABPI Code of Practice
ProStrakan Group plc, Cephalon UK Limited and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare have each breached the ABPI Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry. To highlight these breaches, all are the subject of advertisements in the medical, pharmaceutical and nursing press.
Press Release 18 August 2010
ProStrakan – Case AUTH/2235/5/09
For making claims about Abstral that were misleading and did not comply with a previous undertaking, ProStrakan was ruled in breach of the following clauses of the Code:
Clause 2 - Bringing discredit upon and reducing confidence in the pharmaceutical industry.
Clause 3.2 - Making claims that were inconsistent with the summary of product characteristics.
Clause 7.2 - Making misleading claims.
Clause 9.1 - Failing to maintain high standards.
Clause 25 - Failing to comply with an undertaking.
Cephalon – Case AUTH/2295/1/10
For providing free stock of Effentora, a Schedule 2 controlled drug, without sufficient controls, Cephalon was ruled in breach of the following clauses of the Code:
Clause 2 - Bringing discredit upon and reducing confidence in the pharmaceutical industry.
Clause 9.1 - Failing to maintain high standards.
Clause 15.2 - Representative failing to maintain high standards.
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare – Case AUTH/2298/2/10
For making claims about NiQuitin that were misleading and did not comply with previous undertakings, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare was ruled in breach of the following clauses of the Code:
Clause 2 - Bringing discredit upon and reducing confidence in the pharmaceutical industry.
Clause 7.2 - Making misleading claims and comparisons.
Clause 7.3 - Using misleading comparisons.
Clause 9.1 - Failing to maintain high standards.
Clause 25 - Failing to comply with an undertaking.
Under provisions in its 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.
The advertisements will appear in the BMJ and The Pharmaceutical Journal on 21 August 2010 and in The Nursing Standard on 25 August 2010.
The full case reports were published in the PMCPA August Code of Practice Review and are also available at www.pmcpa.org.uk.