Pharmaceutical companies will be barred from advertising
prescription drugs, providing consumer hotlines, or offering free
treatment and samples in the media when a new regulation comes into
effect on May 1.
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the State
Food and Drug Administration, China's drug safety watchdog, issued
the new regulation governing the contents of drug ads on
Thursday.
The authorities have revised the 1995 regulation to place more
emphasis on stopping drug companies from issuing ads with
misleading information. Under the new regulation, companies are
barred from producing ads with "implicit messages" that mislead the
public by falsely implying particular drugs can produce unlikely
results, like boosting height, intelligence or energy levels.
False and misleading advertisements are one of the biggest
problems plaguing China's drug industry. The industrial and
commercial authorities stopped 9,748 misleading or false ads in
2006 and fined drug companies 38.8 million yuan for producing
illegal ads. Eleven percent of all the illegal ads in China promote
drugs.
The new regulation will tighten the rules governing prescription
drug advertisements. Media outlets will not be allowed to air any
prescription drug ads aimed at the general public. Promotional
campaigns for prescription drugs that target the general public
will also be outlawed. All prescription drug ads will be required
to include a statement saying they have been specifically produced
for medical and pharmaceutical professionals.
All advertisements for drugs that claim to boost sexual
performance will not be allowed to be broadcast on TV or radio
between 7 am and 10 pm under the new regulation. The contents of
these ads will also be tightly regulated.
Any ads promoting anesthetic drugs, psychotropic drugs,
poisonous drugs, radioactive drugs or drugs specifically designed
for army use will also be illegal.
Pharmaceutical and advertising companies will face up to 30,000
yuan fine and possible criminal charges if they violate the
regulation.
(CRIENGLISH.com March 17, 2007)
