MEPs reject US-style direct advertising of drugs

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7371.990/a

BMJ 2002;325:990 ( 2 November )

News

MEPs reject US-style direct advertising of drugs

Rory Watson, Brussels
The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Members of the European parliament have categorically rejected tentative plans to allow pharmaceutical companies to provideinformation on drugs directly to the public in the EuropeanUnion.

As part of its proposals to update existing EU legislation on the approval and marketing of drugs, the European Commissionhad suggested a five year pilot scheme during which firms couldsupply data directly to patients on three common illnesses: diabetes,asthma, andAIDS.

Erkki Liikanen, the European commissioner behind the proposal, insisted that the idea recognised that many patients alreadyobtain fragmented information from the internet and stressed thatit would not lead to US-style direct advertising topatients.

"Our proposal is that European citizens should obtain information that has been validated by European regulatory authoritiesand that follows guidelines to be agreed between the member statesand the Commission," heexplained.

His arguments did not convince the MEPs, who rejected the . . . [Full text of this article]