Advertisement woes

[The PAAB commissioner responds:]

The Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board (PAAB) has a submission review process and a complaint resolution process. Both can be seen in the PAAB Code of Advertising Acceptance at www.paab.ca. If Dr. Rashiq wants to register an official complaint he can contact me directly about the process. The complaint resolution process includes an opportunity for the sponsor, in this case Purdue Frederick, to address the allegations. The PAAB Commissioner has to honour the process that has been agreed to by the PAAB voting members, and that includes the CMA.

Dr. Rashiq's complaint may have merit. I did a brief check of our files and I note that the references have been used in advertising as far back as 1997, two years before I became Commissioner. We have received no other complaints about that particular claim. The complaint resolution process would require a re-analysis of the use of these articles to support the claim in the ad. If Dr. Rashiq wants to know who looks at advertising, the PAAB has reviewed over 20 000 new advertising pieces since 1997, with few substantiated complaints.