HEALTH activist Ken Harvey has once again highlighted the "craziness and consequences of the current 'light touch' regulation of complementary medicines in Australia".
Speaking at the Skeptics Annual Convention in Melbourne on the weekend, Harvey questioned whether the government's response to the latest review on Medicine and Medical Device regulation is likely to fix the problems identified, with a number of key recommendations having been "rejected or watered down".
He suggested rather than the TGA taking over the complaint system, a better solution would be to give the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission greater involvement.
"That organisation has a better consumer protection culture, regulatory expertise and the investigative and enforcement tools required," he said.
Harvey also gave a talk on the Monash University School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine "Whack-a-mole" project, advising his audience on how to make a complaint about advertising of therapeutic goods.
The project is dubbed "Whack-a-mole" because "given the flaws in the current regulatory system, no sooner is one misleading advertisement 'whacked' than others immediately pop up".
The presentation suggests potential complainants should "Pick an advertisement with questionable claims, take screen shots of the material & date it. Identify who is responsible for both the promotion and the product".
The next stage, Harvey suggested, was to search for evidence that supported or refuted the claim, and check the promotion against regulatory requirements for advertising of goods or services before lodging the complaint.
He noted the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Complaint Resolution Panel was "under-resourced and overloaded" and had no power to enforce its determinations, with a 40% non-compliance rate.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 29 Nov 16
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 29 Nov 16
