BMJ  2005;330:162 (22 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7484.162-b

News

Pfizer found guilty of breaching code

Tony Sheldon

Utrecht

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has been ordered to shut down a Dutch website about erectile dysfunction that it sponsors, after a complaint was upheld that it was guilty of the "unlawful public advertising" of its prescription only drug sildenafil (Viagra).

Dutch MP Agnes Kant brought a complaint after a series of radio commercials from Pfizer last October on erectile dysfunction.

Although Dutch law permits "symptom advertising"—which draws attention to specific medical conditions but does not name pharmaceutical products—listeners were also told that they could visit www.erectieplein.nl [erection forum] for information.

On the website, references to Viagra were "numerous and prominent," said the Pharmaceutical Advertising Code Foundation—a self regulatory body of doctors, pharmacists, and industry representatives—which supervises compliance with the code.

The Pfizer sponsored website included an invitation to "click here for the responsible prescription and delivery of erection pills."

The site included information about other products, including Eli Lilly's Cialis (tadalafil) . . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ