Advertising of therapeutic goods
The regulation of advertising needs to balance a number of competing interests – the desire of a manufacturer or supplier of a product to build market awareness of the product, the regulatory agencies in ensuring that the claims made are accurate, not misleading, and consistent with marketing approval, and the consumer in receiving information that will assist in understanding the product and its impact.
Regulation also needs to be responsive to societal changes. Information is communicated through many different media including traditional channels such as print, radio, and television. However, traditional media is no longer the only source of promotional material. In the case of medical technology, a considerable amount of information is now available via the internet, through social media such as Facebook, blogs and Twitter. Often this information is not generated by the sponsor with the best information about the product. The sponsor often has little control over the content and limited opportunity to respond and correct the information.
MTAA does not accept that there should be a differentiation in treatment of advertising depending on the medium through which it is transmitted. Further, MTAA does not accept that there should be different requirements for different therapeutic products.
MTAA addresses relevant questions raised in the Consultation Paper but also raises broader issues for consideration.
In devising a regulatory framework for the 21st century, MTAA recommends:
- Consistency of treatment between therapeutic products
- Consistency of regulation of advertising across all media
- A broadened definition of advertisement
- An extension of coverage to include social media
- Provision of product information on medical devices, directed to consumers.
To access a copy of the submission, please follow this link.
