Medicines New Zealand updates its code of practice to cover social media

New Zealand's pharmaceutical industry association, Medicines New Zealand, has updated its Code of Practice in pursuit of keeping standards high for the industry.

The code is reviewed and updated every three years to remain in touch with legislation and industry standards. The review of the code resulted in changes including strengethening the information on social media, updating advertising sections to align with changes to the Medicines Amendment Regulations 2011 and providing information on online advertisements.

It has also strengthened and added new sections on interactions and relationships with the general public, patients and patient organisations, with further changes made to the section on media releases, Product Familiarization Programs, company-commissioned articles, external meeting sponsorship, and items of medical utility. There is also now provision for a fee waiver for complaints from members of the public in certain circumstances.