Swissmedic wants a ban on advertising for prescription drugs

If the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products Swissmedic has its way, no more information or advertising for prescription medicines should be found on the Internet. The reason: pharmaceutical companies are increasingly mixing information with advertising (see ). However, the regulation does not affect officially approved information, such as that which is publicly accessible on the Internet via the medicinal products compendium. According to NZZ am Sonntag, doctors and pharmacists will only be able to access certain information with a password from 2007. However, the regulation is considered to be rather absurd and not well thought out. After all, the Internet does not stop at Swiss borders - and even password protection does not prevent access to information on the World Wide Web.
The pharmaceutical industry is also anything but enthusiastic and is considering legal action against Swissmedic. For the time being, Swissmedic is being accused of a control mentality and paternalism.
The happy medium, which allows consumers to be protected from unlawful advertising while at the same time providing patients with comprehensive information, has not yet been found.