Report published 23 May 2024
On 8 April 2024, having first attempted inter-company dialogue, Reckitt raised formal concerns with PAGB regarding a health care professional training video hosted on the Pharmacy Magazine website. The content focused on antibiotic resistance and product information about Chloralieve Lozenges, a Prestige Brands medicine.
Reckitt objected that the material breached rule 23 of the PAGB Professional Code for Medicines: Comparisons shall not denigrate or discredit, either directly or by implication, a competitor product, ingredient or treatment type, nor shall they mislead the recipient.
The complaint highlighted the following claims:
- “Making the right recommendation for sore throat”
- “No antibiotics, no NSAIDs”/ “free of antibiotics and NSAIDs”
PAGB reviewed the training material and considered the arguments set out in both the complaint and the advertiser’s response to assess whether the content breached the Professional Code for Medicines.
The video opened with the title of the training “Making the right recommendation for sore throat”. Following this a significant part of the video focused on antibiotic resistance, noting that antibiotics should not be routinely prescribed for sore throats. It then described how Chloralieve lozenges can be used to treat sore throats, highlighting the product benefits and noting that while the packaging had been changed the formulation remained the same and did not contain antibiotics or NSAIDs.
PAGB accepted that in some circumstances “Making the right recommendation for sore throat” could be seen as indicating that the material contained guidance on recommendations for sore throat, rather than implying a singular correct recommendation. However, in this context we considered viewers would perceive the negative focus on antibiotics juxtaposed with the benefits of Chloralieve lozenges as suggesting the former was an incorrect recommendation, and Chloralieve a correct recommendation. The position that antibiotics should not be used to treat sore throat is widely accepted and PAGB considered this recommendation appropriate and suitable for inclusion in this type of material.
Later in the video the onscreen text and voiceover highlighted that Chloralieve lozenges do not contain antibiotics or NSAIDs. While this is a correct factual statement, we considered that by placing the ingredients together in this context the material implied that NSAIDs are, like antibiotics, an unsuitable first line treatment for sore throats. As NSAIDs are an accepted treatment for relieving the pain and discomfort of a sore throat, we considered that this implicitly denigrated NSAIDs.
Conclusion: The material breached rule 23 of the PAGB Professional Code for Medicines.
The video in its original form has now been removed from circulation.
Read more about the PAGB Complaints Procedure.
