TV ads for medicinal products allowed in Norway next year
The Ministry of Health and Care has decided to revoke the prohibition on television advertisements for pharmaceuticals with effect from 1st January 2016.
Pharmaceutical advertising on television is currently not allowed in Norway, due to a prohibition provided by section 13-4 of the Medicinal Product Regulation.
The Ministry of Health and Care has decided to revoke the prohibition on television advertisements for pharmaceuticals with effect from 1st January 2016.
Pharmaceutical advertising on television is currently not allowed in Norway, due to a prohibition provided by section 13-4 of the Medicinal Product Regulation.
On 19 October 2015 the Ministry of Health and Care issued an amendment to the Medicinal Product Regulation, revoking section 13-4. The amendment is effective from 1st January 2016.
The reason for lifting the prohibition is that it is outdated and is no longer believed to have a huge impact on the protection of health. Several European countries allow TV advertisements for non-prescription drugs, and Norwegian consumers have for several years been exposed to TV commercials for medicinal products from TV channels stationed abroad. In today’s world of digital media, consumers are also exposed to similar kinds of advertisements via streaming media, thus the impact of TV commercials on consumers is believed to be lesser than previously.
The consequence of the revocation of section 13-4 is that television advertisements for non-prescription pharmaceuticals will be legal. TV-advertisements for prescription drugs will still be illegal, since the Regulation already contains a prohibition on advertisements of such drugs to the general public.
TV-commercials will be subject to the same rules as pharmaceutical advertisements in other media, and will therefore need to comply with the rules set out in Chapter 13 of the Regulation. Companies who wish to promote medicinal products via TV-commercials in Norway should review advertisements with scrutiny in order to ensure compliance with these requirements. The Norwegian Medicines Agency has already issued a short guidance document which applies to TV and video commercials on all media platforms.
Not surprisingly, the reception of the revocation has been mixed. The pharmaceutical industry and the television channels are in support of the decision, referring to the situation in other countries and that the prohibition is unnecessary. Organizations for health care personnel, however, have raised concerns regarding excessive consumption of medicinal products, particularly referring to increased sales of non-prescriptive analgesics in Norway.