§ Dr. IddonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the circumstances under which(a) a notice, (b) a threat of notice and (c) a request to cease advertising would be made by (i) him and (ii) the Medicines Control Agency under the Medicines (Advertising and Monitoring of Advertising) Amendment Regulations 1999 (SI 267); and if he will make a statement on the powers of the Independent Review Panel concerning such actions. [88003]
478W
§ Ms JowellThe Medicines Control Agency undertakes its statutory role in the control of medicines advertising on behalf of Health Ministers. Any notice issued by the Agency is therefore issued for, and on behalf of Ministers.
There are specific circumstances under which notices may be issued to advertisers under the procedures in the amending Regulations. These are:
Under paragraph 1—to request a copy of an advertisement,Under paragraph 3—to advise an advertiser that Health Ministers are "minded to" make a decision that an advertisement is in breach of the Advertising Regulations,Under paragraph 4—to advise an advertiser that an advertisement would not be in breach, andUnder paragraph 5—to advise an advertiser that, after consideration of the advice of the Independent Review Panel Health Ministers have decided an advertisement is in breach.Notices under paragraphs 1 or 3 may require an advertiser to cease advertising on an interim basis. At any stage the recipient of a notice can seek judicial review of the decision to issue that notice.
The issue of notices under the Schedule will not be automatic—the Medicines Control Agency will continue, as now, to discuss problems with advertising with the company concerned so as to secure acceptable changes. The formal procedures will come into play only when informal negotiation fails to reach an appropriate outcome.
The remit of the Independent Review Panel will be to consider written representations from advertisers who have been issued with a notice under paragraph 3 and advise Health Ministers on the compatibility of the advertisement in question with the Advertising Regulations. The panel will not consider the issue of notices or other procedural matters. The amending Regulations provide for the making of written representations by the company concerned but do not preclude oral hearings where these are considered appropriate by the Panel. We have no objection to the reports of the Review Panel meetings being made publicly available. Furthermore, the Medicines Control Agency has already established a working group, the Medicines Advertising Liaison Group, to provide a forum for all regulatory and self regulatory bodies concerned with the advertising of medicines to exchange information and opinions on advertising issues.