Advert - Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer

Promotion of Eliquis

For two representatives at one meeting raising the
medico-legal consequences of switching patients
from Eliquis (apixaban) to a competitor product in
line with local guidance, implying that such patients
would become unstable, and particularly as the
discussion was with someone who appeared not
to be a prescriber and was thus tantamount to
scaremongering, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer
were 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 a misleading claim

Clause 8.1 - Disparaging another company’s medicine

Clause 15.2 - Representatives failing to maintain a
high standard of ethical conduct

Advert - September 2020