§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in the light of the conclusions of the report "Drug Disinformation", he will further comment on his statement that it is the responsibility of companies concerned to ensure that entries in MIMS relating to their products are correct; and on what basis this statement was made.
§ Dr. Vaughan[pursuant to the reply, 13 November 1980, c. 432]: In normal circumstances, a medicinal product may be advertised in the United Kingdom only with the consent of the product licence holder who is, therefore, responsible for the accuracy of the advertisement. However, in the exceptional circumstances where an entry, which comes within the Medicines Act 1968 definition of an advertisement, is made in a publication, such as the "Monthly Index of Medical Specialties", by a person who falls outside the Act's definition of a "commercially interested party", there is no requirement for the consent of the product licence holder to be obtained; in such circumstances, the product licence holder cannot be held accountable for the advertisement but I would expect such publications to take a responsible attitude to the contents of any advertisement which is not agreed by the product licence holder.