Brussels to allow drug companies to advertise online

ELITSA VUCHEVA

11.12.2008 @ 09:45 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The European Commission on Wednesday (10 December) presented a package of proposals to reform the EU's pharmaceutical sector aiming to limit the spread of counterfeit medicine in the bloc, while letting drug companies "provide information" on medicines via websites.

But Brussels' plan has already drawn some criticism from consumer rights advocates, who say that the plans open the door to US-style drug advertising..

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"The EU has been losing ground in pharmaceutical innovation. European patients still suffer from inequalities in the availability of information about medicines, whilst counterfeits are on the rise," the commission said, unveiling its proposals.

"We wish to restore the EU's traditional role as the pharmacy of the world," EU industry commissioner Gunter Verheugen added when unveiling the package.

As one way of fighting counterfeit medicine, the commission is proposing "safety features ensuring full traceability of each individual package of high-risk products." These features could be individual product codes or seals that would reveal any opening of the pack.

Better control at the EU's external borders should be assured to limit the entering of fake medicine, and more thorough checks should be carried on whether the drugs' ingredients are of high quality standard, Brussels also says.

According to its data, seizures of counterfeit medicines at the border of the EU in 2007 have increased by 380 percent compared to 2005, and amounted to some 2.5 million packets.

Under the proposal, consumers could also be provided information on medicines on websites or in specialist health publications.

At present, pharmaceutical companies cannot provide information to European consumers other than via leaflets found inside drug packaging.

Commissioner Verheugen stressed that the EU would make sure consumers are protected from potentially biased or promotional information.

"There will be strict rules regarding content [of the information provided to consumers] and these will be tightly monitored," he said.

Proposals already criticised

The European Consumers' Organisation, BEUC, called the proposal to provide more information to patients "advertising in disguise."

"The pharmaceutical industry will be allowed to choose on which particular disease or specific medicine, to what extent the 'information' will be provided and how much money to spend on it," it said in a press release.

"The proposal on information to patients is just a disguised way of giving pharmaceutical companies greater flexibility to provide the information they want on prescription medicines directly to the public, namely direct-to-consumer communication strategies - the goal of which in our view is to boost sales," Monique Goyens, BEUC's director general, stated.

The European Generic Medicines Association (EGA) – representing companies that produce nearly half of all medicines used in Europe – said the commission's package was overall "well-balanced," but it also noted "some fine-tuning will be necessary, particularly with regard to the new 'summary of essential information' which must be inserted into the product leaflet."

"This summary could be counter-productive for patient compliance," it added.

The EGA is also "concerned that the main source of counterfeiting, the internet, is not addressed and that the European Commission may be promoting an over-reliance on technical features," said Greg Perry, director-general of the association.

The commission's proposals must now to be approved by MEPs and the EU member states and are not expected to enter into force before 2011 or 2012.