THE Therapeutic Goods Administration has opened a formal consultation on advertising of pharmacist-only (S3) medicines.
Feedback is sought on whether advertising of S3 items would be permitted by default, possible additional requirements for pharmacist education and provision of information by patients, and consideration of a mechanism to allow sponsors to seek approval to advertise to the public S3 products as part of market authorisation applications.
The Australian Self-Medication Industry has previously proposed a model for S3 direct to consumer advertising which includes a range of pharmacist education resources and a directive to patients to ask their pharmacists for information.
At APP last month ASMI chairman Lindsay Forrest said the proposals would see pharmacists play a larger role in Australian healthcare, with a mandatory infomercial-style format which highlights disease states, branded product information and the pharmacist's role in determining whether the therapy is right for the consumer.
The TGA's consultation also covers proposed changes to the Scheduling Policy Framework, including allowing public consultations on interim decisions, enabling applicants to present directly to advisory committees and increased transparency around the scheduling process.
The full consultation document is now available at tga.gov.au with interested parties invited to provide submissions by Fri 28 Apr 2017.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 03 Apr 17
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 03 Apr 17
