Pharma company should substantiate claims

MANY MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS have already pointed out that the so-called pharmaceutical liquor of Hongmao Pharmaceutical, which it boasts can help promote health, does not help at all. In other words, it has broken the Advertisement Law, which prohibits exaggerated and false claims. Thepaper.cn comments:

Besides the Advertisement Law, there are special regulations on medical advertisements yet none of these prevented Hongmao Pharmaceutical’s advertisements from being broadcast. It was reported that the liquor had been notified by the food and drug administrations in 25 provinces and autonomous regions as violating the Advertisement Law. It has been banned from sale many times.

Local supervision departments cannot shrug off their responsibilities. Despite some saying Hongmao Pharmaceutical’s advertisements made false claims, the company has always been able to get approval from the local food and drug administration for its

advertisements. And it is always possible for the false claims to be advertised on TV. It also gained the title of being a “Time-honored Brand”, which it put on top of its website.

Hongmao Pharmaceutical has survived being labeled as a violator of the law 2,630 times. It seems that the law does not work with this violator. It is obvious that the law needs to be amended so that illegal advertisement producers receive penalties harsh enough to prevent them from committing illicit deeds again. Also the local food and drug administration and those media which publish or broadcast the false advertisement should be punished.