Japan Probes Pharma Magazine Ads Masquerading As Articles

The Japanese government is investigating whether numerous magazine articles intended to attract cancer patient may actually have been nothing more than embellished advertisements for cancer medicines and that several drugmakers paid the publisher of a monthly magazine to run the information, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is determining whether the arrangement violated the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, which bans advertising of cancer drug. And the paper reports that the ministry plans to urge the pharmaceutical industry to adopt voluntary rules to prevent a recurrence, although the names of the magazine and the drugmakers were not disclosed. The ministry began the probe because the “payment suggests it was likely there was intention of advertising the drugs by carrying the articles,” a ministry official tells the paper. The ministry has asked the drugmakers to conduct internal inquiries and plans to hold a hearing. The magazine, which targets cancer patients, reportedly sells 70,000 copies each month and many articles quote doctors and other specialists who mention specific drugs and their effectiveness in fighting cancer, the paper writes. And sources tell the paper that the publisher receives about $4,600 to $5,600 per page for each article from drugmakers. “Those articles were called ‘tie-up articles,’“ a source tells the paper. “Since the magazine’s circulation figures stagnated, it needed around two such articles p...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs