Medicines Australia (formerly the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association) has a code of conduct to guide the promotion of prescription drugs in Australia.

¹ An updated version of the Medicines Australia Code of Conduct was implemented earlier this year.² There visions will have taken into account some of the complaints received in the previous year.

The report of the Code of Conduct Committee for 2002says that 49 complaints were received. Nine complaints were withdrawn and some are unresolved, so the report details the assessment of 36 cases.³

Most of the complaints came from rival pharmaceutical companies, but six came from health professionals and three were made by the Australian Consumers Association. Nine complaints did not involve a breach of the Code of Conduct and two more were dismissed by the Code of Conduct Appeals Committee. This leaves 25 complaints in which at least one breach of the Code was found (Table 1). Details of these breaches can be found in the report.³

Note

The Medicines Australia Code of Conduct is available from:

Medicines Australia

Level 1, 16 Napier Close

DEAKIN ACT 2600

Tel: (02) 6282 6888

Web site: www.medicinesaustralia.com.au