THE Australian Self Medication Industry (ASMI) has backed changes to the complaints process around advertising of medicines and medical devices to the public, but expressed disquiet over the details.
This follows the announcement that the TGA will take on sole responsibility for handling consumer advertising complaints from 01 Jul 2018 to "simplify and improve" the process (PD 10 Jul).
ASMI ceo Deon Schoombie warns that "the devil is in the detail".
"We are happy with the direction that the complaints handling is going, however ASMI remains concerned about the removal of pre-approvals prior to the effectiveness of new measures being demonstrated," he said.
The TGA said the removal of pre-approvals was "to deter the inappropriate and misleading advertising of therapeutic products".
In addition, the TGA had flagged a revamp of advertising guidelines for pharmacist-only (S3) medicines.
"The TGA has taken a step in the right direction to streamline the complaints handling process in order to help deliver consistent decision-making, compliance and enforcement," Schoombie said.
"We look forward to working with the TGA to develop the details of both the new scheme and the transition arrangements."
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 12 Jul 17
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