Four of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies have recently come up with a proposal to launch an interactive television channel to “inform” the public about their drugs.

As reported by the Guardian on 21 May 2007, “Pharma TV” would be a dedicated interactive digital channel funded by the industry with health news and features but, at its heart, detailed information from drug companies about their own medicines.

This proposal was strategically put forward by Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis and Procter & Gamble to a selected group of stakeholders, among which European Commission representatives. The EU Commission is about to launch the second round of the EU Pharmaceutical legislation's Review Process.

Background

As it stands, Directive 2001/83/EC bans direct-to-consumer-advertising (DTCA) of prescription-only medicines whilst allowing advertising of medicines not subject to prescription, or over-the-counter drugs, as they are frequently called.

In the 2001 Review process of the EU Pharmaceutical Legislation, the DG Enterprise submitted proposals to remove the legal restriction to DTCA of prescription drugs. The main argument of the European Commission at that point was that information should be provided by companies to meet demands and needs of patients and patient organizations.

Despite the overwhelming rejection of the proposal to relax the ban on DTCA by the European Parliament, in 2002, and by the European Council, in 2003, pharmaceutical companies have continued lobbying hard and to open avenues to direct-to-consumer advertising in Europe, under the guise of patient information.

The European Commission is currently consulting on potential changes to the regulation banning all direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription-only medicines.

Nevertheless, the present legislation does allow the industry to provide information to European citizens, provided they not directly or indirectly promote their products.

The TV pilot was welcomed by a number of influential patient groups, including the European Patients' Forum, which is the only patient organizations admitted to the high-level Pharmaceutical Forum set up by the commission to discuss legislative changes.

Consumer and Health organizations' arguments against "Pharma TV"

Consumer and health organizations are firmly opposed to what they see as a commercial strategy ultimately targeted at boosting profits.

• These organizations jointly agree that it is inherently difficult, if not impossible, to make a real distinction between information and advertising when it is being provided by a company which has a product to sell. Even information that has a firmly objective factual basis will be presented in a promotional manner.
• The International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB) – consumer and healthcare professionals’ publications which analyze the benefits of drugs and draw comparisons between them - warns that the industry is not a reliable source of trustworthy information. In both the US and New Zealand, where drug companies are allowed to advertise to the public, "Pharmaceutical companies' messages are focused on relatively few top sellers, exaggerating effects and concealing risks, confusing patients and putting pressure on doctors to prescribe drugs they would not use otherwise," says ISDB. "Lack of comparative information in advertising means people cannot choose among several options."
• A self regulation system to ensure the consistent provision of objective and non-promotional information by the pharmaceutical industry would be ineffective. Such a structure is likely to be based on post hoc sanctions, which in turn would encourage attempts to push any applicable quality standards to their limits. Health Action International Europe and Association Internationale de la Mutualité were interviewed by the BBC on this theme and were adamant to diagnose Pharma TV as a clear example of unethical promotional practice.