The following is a press release from our regulatory cousins over at the MHRA …
“The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is getting tougher on misleading advertising materials by drug manufacturers. The MHRA will now vet advertisements for any newly licensed medicine before they are advertised. Under previous arrangements, the MHRA only vetted advertisements for some new medicines on the basis of a risk assessment. In line with the recommendations laid down this year in the Health Select Committee’s Report on The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry, the MHRA now pre-vets promotional material for all new active substances.Vetting details were outlined yesterday at an MHRA seminar in London, where healthcare professionals were told that the period of vetting of all advertising for a new medicine will normally be three to six months, but could take longer should any problems be identified.”
As Laurence J. Peters reminds us, “Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.”
