Advert - Boehringer Ingelheim Limited

For issuing a press release to the consumer press which would encourage members of the public to ask their health professional to prescribe Pradaxa for an unlicensed indication, Boehringer Ingelheim was ruled in breach of the following clauses of the Code:

Clause 2 - Bringing discredit upon, and reducing confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry.

Clause 3.2 - Promoting a medicine for an unlicensed indication.

Clause 9.1 - Failing to maintain high standards.

Clause 22.1 - Advertising a prescription only medicine to the public.

Clause 22.2 - Encouraging members of the public to ask their health professional to prescribe a specific prescription only medicine.

The full case report was published in the PMCPA November Code of Practice Review and is also available at www.pmcpa.org.uk