By Amanda Fuller, Managing Partner, Omnicom Health & ACA representative on TGA’s Consultative Group for Consumer Guidance
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has released new guidance on complying with the restrictions on advertising prescription medicines to the public, alongside an updated version of Advertising health services that involve therapeutic goods. While the underlying legislation has not changed, the guidance provides much greater clarity on how the TGA interprets and enforces existing prohibitions, particularly across websites, social media, telehealth services and other digital channels. Of particular note is the regulator’s focus on advertising health services as a pathway to accessing prescription medicines, including medicinal cannabis, weight loss treatments and cosmetic injectables.
The updated guidance includes new information for telehealth providers, clarifying that marketing a consultation or service as a means of obtaining a specific prescription treatment may itself constitute advertising of a prescription medicine. Telehealth operators should therefore carefully review their websites, social media content, booking pathways, and promotional materials to ensure they are promoting clinical services rather than consumer access to regulated medicines. The guidance also consolidates previous medicinal cannabis advertising guidance into a broader prescription medicine framework, reinforcing that prescription medicines cannot be promoted directly or indirectly to consumers. Practitioners, marketers and agencies should note the TGA’s increasing emphasis on the overall consumer impression created by a communication, rather than simply whether a product is named explicitly.
“One of the most useful aspects of this update is the additional guidance for telehealth providers. As healthcare services continue to move online, the distinction between promoting a health service and promoting access to a prescription medicine has become increasingly blurred. The guidance provides welcome clarity for telehealth operators, agencies and marketers, reinforcing that communications should focus on the clinical service and patient consultation rather than the availability of a particular treatment.”
For more information: TGA releases new guidance on advertising restrictions for prescription medicines.
