13 Case Reports

13.1 At the conclusion of any case under the Code, the complainant is advised of the outcome and a report is published summarising the details of the case.

13.2 The respondent company and the medicine concerned are named in the report.

In a case where the complaint was initiated by a company or by an organisation or official body, that company or organisation or official body is named in the report. The information given must not, however, be such as to identify any individual.

Where expert assistance has been obtained by either the Panel or the Appeal Board, the report will include the name and qualifications of the expert concerned.

Where a company has been required to issue a corrective statement, the report will reproduce its text and provide details of how the corrective statement was disseminated.

13.3 A copy of the report on a case is sent to both the complainant and the respondent company prior to publication. Any amendments to the report suggested by these parties are considered by the Director, consulting with the other party where appropriate. If either party does not accept the Director’s decision as to whether or not a report should be amended, the matter is referred to the Chairman of the Appeal Board for his decision which is final.

13.4 Copies of all case reports are submitted to the Appeal Board prior to publication. Copies of the reports are sent to the ABPI Board for information following publication.

13.5 Full case reports in printed form are published each quarter by the Authority.

Copies of the reports are sent to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the Competition and Markets Authority, the Serious Fraud Office, the British Medical Association, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Royal College of Nursing and the Editors of the BMJ, The Pharmaceutical Journal and the Nursing Standard. Copies are also available to anyone on request.

13.6 In addition to the printed reports, full case reports appear on the Authority’s website. The website also carries brief details of all complaints which are currently under consideration but not yet resolved and the texts and modes of dissemination of any corrective statements that companies have been required to issue during the previous twelve months.

The Authority’s website also carries interim case reports in respect of cases where publication of the final report is delayed because either the Appeal Board or the ABPI Board has required an audit of the respondent company’s procedures in relation to the Code.

Access to the Authority’s website is unrestricted.

13.7 Following publication of the relevant case reports, the Authority advertises in the medical, pharmaceutical and nursing press brief details of cases in which companies were ruled in breach of Clause 2 of the Code, were required to issue a corrective statement or were the subject of a public reprimand. Such advertisements also appear on the Authority’s website. The companies concerned are required to contribute to the cost of the press advertisements.