A survey of drug advertisements in Australian prescribing software has found numerous apparent breaches of the drug industry's own voluntary code of conduct. It has led the organisers of the survey to recommend that the Australian government ban the practice of allowing advertisements in such software.

The survey results, published in the Medical Journal of Australia (2005;183: 75-9) reviewed the Medical Director software sold by Health Communications Network. Although the software is the only such program in Australia that includes advertisements, the company estimates that its 16 000 users …