Clause 5 High Standards and Suitability

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Clause 5
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5

  • Clause 5 High Standards and Suitability

    The special nature of medicines and the audience to which the information is directed require that the standards set for information about medicines are higher than those which might be acceptable for general commodity communications and advertising.

5.1

Companies must maintain high standards at all times.

  • Clause 5.1 High Standards

    Companies should have policies or similar to clearly communicate corporate standards, expectations and behaviour, and should provide appropriate training.

5.2

All company personnel must maintain a high standard of ethical conduct in the discharge of their duties and comply with all relevant requirements of the Code.

  • Clause 5.2 High Standards and Conduct

    Companies are responsible under the Code for the acts and omissions of their personnel which come within the scope of the Code, even if they act contrary to the instructions which they have been given.

    Company personnel include members of staff, those retained by way of contract and third parties.

5.3

All material and activities must recognise the special nature of medicines and respect the professional standing or otherwise of the audience to which they are directed and must not be likely to cause offence.

  • Clause 5.3 Suitability

    Certain types, styles and methods of communication are unacceptable. These include:

    • the display of naked or partially naked people for the purpose of attracting attention to the material or the use of sexual imagery for that purpose

    • ‘teaser’ communication/advertising whereby material is intended to ‘tease’ the recipient by eliciting an interest in something which will be following or will be available at a later date without providing any actual information about it.

    Care should be taken with language, use of abbreviations, etc. and the use of emojis and the like.

5.4

The name or photograph of a member of a health profession must not be used in any way that is contrary to the conventions of that profession.

5.5

Extremes of format, size or cost of material must be avoided. Informational or educational materials must be inexpensive, directly relevant to the practice of medicine or pharmacy and directly beneficial to the care of patients.

5.6

Material relating to medicines and their uses, whether promotional or not, and information relating to human health or diseases which is sponsored by a pharmaceutical company or in which a pharmaceutical company has any other involvement, must clearly indicate the role of that pharmaceutical company.

The only exception to this is market research material if it is such that the name of the company involved is not required to be stated; then the material must state that it is commissioned by a pharmaceutical company.

  • Clause 5.6 Declaration of Involvement

    The wording of the declaration of involvement must be unambiguous so that readers are immediately able to understand the extent of the company’s involvement and influence. This is particularly important when companies are involved in the production of material which is circulated by an otherwise wholly independent party, such as supplements to health professional journals.

    The declaration of sponsorship must be sufficiently prominent to ensure that readers of sponsored material are aware of it at the outset.

5.7

Material should only be provided or made available to those groups of people whose need for or interest in it can reasonably be assumed. Material should be tailored to the audience to whom it is directed.

5.8

It should be made clear when a user is leaving any of the company’s websites or websites sponsored by the company or is being directed to a website which is not that of the company.