Satisfied With Drug Complaint Outcome

Health Minister Bill English said today he was satisfied with the outcome of his complaint to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board about the drug companies' million-dollar 'Mayday' campaign.

"The finding is that the complaint has been settled due to the complete and unequivocal withdrawal of the campaign the day before the hearing. The companies have also agreed not to use any of the material in this campaign in the future. Under the circumstances I think this is the best result that could be achieved," said Mr English.

"The real outcome of this advertising campaign is that it has set back Government and medical profession relationships with the pharmaceutical industry. It will take some time to rebuild trust and confidence between us. I hope we have now seen the back of this sort of destructive tactic.

"The drug companies' last advertisement thanking the public was a bit like the English football team doing a victory lap after losing the first test against New Zealand.

"My objective was to get this campaign off the air because of the distress it was causing thousands of New Zealanders. The drug companies knew there was a high chance their campaign would be stopped if the hearing went ahead and they took the wise step of withdrawing the campaign.

"They publicly claimed to have done this in the interests of promoting dialogue, but told the Complaints Board they were doing it in the interests of industry self-regulation.

"At the hearing they would not accept there had been any fear or anxiety created by the campaign, yet on national radio the morning of the hearing said people should have been frightened by it.

"It does concern me that the industry has shown no concern at all for the anxiety and distress this campaign has caused sick and vulnerable people. This is despite the fact that the medical profession was opposed to this campaign because of concerns for patients and asked for it to be withdrawn," said Mr English.