The drug company Eli Lilly has been found to have breached the UK industry’s code of practice by encouraging patients to ask for a prescription only drug.

The company, maker of tadalafil (marketed as Cialis), has been ruled to be in breach of the code of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, including bringing discredit on and reducing confidence in the industry and failing to maintain high standards.

The ruling says that Eli Lilly breached the code by encouraging patients, through a chart and action plan on a website and a leaflet, to ask their doctor for a specific prescription only drug.

One page of the website contained a table that listed the treatment types available for erectile dysfunction, says the ruling.

The Prescription Medicines …