Sri Lanka accuses drug company of flouting advertising rules
BMJ 2000; 321 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.321.7262.656/a (Published 16 September 2000) Cite this as: BMJ 2000;321:656- Dinali Goonewardene
- Colombo
Sri Lanka's drug regulatory authority has accused SmithKline Beecham Mackwoods of breaching government guidelines in its advertisements for its proprietary product Panadol, by failing to mention the drug's generic name, paracetamol, in all its material.
The drug's brand name appears every hour throughout the evenings on Sri Lanka's national television, on a clock face that announces the time. No mention is made of the drug's generic name. Displays of Panadol on name boards of pharmacies and hospitals also contain no reference to paracetamol.
The guidelines …
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