Medicines Australia Code of Conduct: breaches

Medicines Australia (formerly the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association) has a code of conduct to guide the promotion of prescription drugs in Australia.¹ The latest edition of the Code of Conduct states that Medicines Australia will provide information on its web site about complaints involving activities directed towards members of the public.² It is pleasing to report that Medicines Australia has expanded its external reporting by posting details of all the complaints the Code of Conduct Committee resolved between July and December 2003.³

In this six-month period 21 complaints were resolved. Most of the complaints were made by rival companies, but four were made by health professionals, and the Therapeutic Goods Administration made two. Four complaints were withdrawn and four complaints contained no breaches. This leaves 13 complaints where at least one breach was found (Table 1). Four companies appealed against being found in breach, but these appeals were not upheld.