RECKITT Benckiser (RB) has attracted some unwanted attention, with the Therapeutic Goods Administration confirming it is investigating complaints about advertising for its Nuromol ibuprofen/paracetamol combination analgesic.
News Limited has highlighted the complaints which relate to advertising for Nuromol on buses, promoting the fact that it can be purchased without prescription - in contrast to the now rescheduled codeine products such as Nurofen Plus.
A particular Nuromol advertisement included the wording "the alternative to codeine you've been waiting for", a potential breach of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 banning any reference to a Schedule 4 drug in a consumer advertisement.
The company has argued that the advertisement referencing codeine was only targeted to pharmacists and GP's for whom such advertising is within guidelines.
RB was fined $6 million in 2016 for misleading the public with its Nurofen "specific pain" marketing campaign, identifying four different "targeted" pain labels for identical products (PD 29 Apr 2016).
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