 |
Medicines
and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Market Towers |
| Mr Charles Medawar |
General
enquiries Telephone 020 7273 0000 Fax 020 7273 0353 E-mail [email protected] www.mhra.gov.uk Direct
line: 020 7084 2664 Email: [email protected] 9 December 2005 |
| Dear Mr Medawar, RE: EFEXOR XI, (venlafaxine): PL 00011/0223-0224 & 00011/0199-0201 Advertisement in BMJ of 16 April 2005 Thank you for your letter of 11 November 2005 about the outcome of your complaint concerning the advertisement for Efexor XL in the BMJ of 16 April 2005. Your letter asks why it took seven months to resolve this complaint. The reason was that, although withdrawal of the advertisement was secured rapidly, it took much longer to agree on a correction. The statement was published by agreement between MHRA and Wyeth but this position was not reached until the Agency had resorted to the statutory procedures that provides legal powers to enforce publication of a correction for misleading advertising. In response to your FOIA request we have decided to release the papers relating to this complaint, having regard to the public interest in this particular case and the procedures used. I attach copies of the Wyeth and MHRA representations to the Independent Review Panel on Advertising. These papers include the material from both parts of your request. In the event, the Panel did not meet as agreement was reached as set out in the subsequent correspondence also attached. Thank you for your continued interest in this matter. Yours sincerely, Dr Nageen Hashmi |