Lilly Is Fined For Promoting Cialis Improperly
1 CommentBy Ed Silverman // July 8th, 2008 // 9:25 am
The drugmaker was fined $60,000 for peddling poll results on men’s sex lives to the Australian media and promoting an erection aid, The Age reports. Lilly was found to be in breach of the Medicines Australia code of conduct for distributing promotional material disguised as a survey for its Cialis erectile dysfunction pill, but a consumer group says a harsher penalty was in order.
Press releases promoting Cialis Once-A-Day, entitled “Scheduled Sex a Turn-Off”, were found to have breached the code of conduct under which companies are not allowed to promote drugs directly to the public, the paper writes. The polling, which encouraged once-a-day intake of the drug for men with erection problems, was subsequently linked to the launch of Cialis and widely reported.
Choice, a consumer advocacy group, which filed a complaint with Medicines Australia, says the fine was too small, given the amount of money that the promotion could have made Lilly. “A $60,000 fine is not a significant enough penalty for a large pharmaceutical company like Eli Lilly,” Choice health policy officer Michael Johnston, says in a statement. “That figure is equivalent to fewer than 30 men buying the drug for 12 months.”
Ruth
CHOICE in Australia is getting the U.S. payoff treatment. Measly as possible.