Drug Firm Fined €25,000 for Illegal Advertising
The State Agency of Medicines has slapped pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) with a 25,000-euro fine for holding a promotional event under the guise of a training conference.
When introducing its product Nuvaring at the April 1 event, the drug firm inappropriately enticed doctors to prescribe and sell the medicine by treating them to drinks and entertainment, the agency decided.
The event was exposed by an investigive journalist from the Äripäev daily who had witnessed the undertaking and called it an exercise in brainwashing.
According to the agency, such activities go against the Medicinal Products Act and the requirements set on the advertisement of pharmaceuticals.
As patients cannot make the decision as to which prescription medicine to purchase, pharmaceutical companies have been given very strict ethical guidelines regarding influencing doctors, Riho Tapfer, head of the agency, told ETV, adding that firms usually comply with the requirements.
MSD has two weeks to appeal the agency's decision in the county court.
Ingrid Teesalu