Parke-Davis Peruvian Promo Slammed

An advertising flyer given by the Parke-Davis division of Warner-Lambert Co to pharmacists in Peru, offering them a free bottle of wine if they bought three boxes of Sinutab MP or Sinutab MS has been found to be in breach of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations' code of marketing practice.

The matter falls within the scope of the IFPMA code because while Sinutab can be sold direct to the public, the promotion was directed at pharmacists.

The offer of free wine breaches Section Iv.1 of the Code, which states that "inappropriate financial or material benefits, including inappropriate hospitality, should not be offered to health care professionals to influence them in the prescription of pharmaceutical products," and Section IV.2, which states that "promotional items of insignificant value, provided free of charge, are permissible as long as they are related to the health care provider's work and/or entail a benefit to the patient." the bottles of wine offered as gifts were not acceptable, says the IFPMA.