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@conservatives are proposing changes to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 “to allow UK-wide rollout of the #COVID #vaccine to save lives and bring the pandemic to an end”
A thread, on how this could expose us to direct advertising of medicines and US-style health problems
A thread, on how this could expose us to direct advertising of medicines and US-style health problems
Some people believe the HMR 2020 changes would allow for the administration of “unlicensed #vaccines” by “non-medical staff” with no compensation “if we face damage to our health”
But this is unnecessarily alarmist, and they’re also missing the point.
You can find out why in my article, but for this thread I’ll focus on the really profound change. https://medium.com/@osondu/the-covid-19-vaccine-1114a9e1dd73?sk=25cd824298078eb00038e8c856732fde
You can find out why in my article, but for this thread I’ll focus on the really profound change. https://medium.com/@osondu/the-covid-19-vaccine-1114a9e1dd73?sk=25cd824298078eb00038e8c856732fde
Regulation 291A lifts the ban on ads for a “prescription-only medicine, narcotic or psychotropic substance to the public, as long as its use is in response to the spread of pathogenic agents, toxins, chemical agents, or nuclear radiation; and has been approved by the Ministers.”
Note that this is not only related to a COVID-19 vaccine or other COVID-19 treatments. This applies to ANY unlicensed medication that fits the above nebulous criteria.
Find out what I mean by “unlicensed” in my article. For now I’ll continue with what the changes mean for us.
Find out what I mean by “unlicensed” in my article. For now I’ll continue with what the changes mean for us.
The US and NZ are the only 2 countries in the world that allow pharma companies to advertise “direct to consumers”
The ban on DTC ads in the UK is based on the premise that physicians, not corporations, are best placed to decide which medicines should be prescribed to a patient
The ban on DTC ads in the UK is based on the premise that physicians, not corporations, are best placed to decide which medicines should be prescribed to a patient
It’s why you don’t see UK TV ads for Prozac or Viagra or new moonshot cancer medications, and it stems from the same idea that birthed our #NHS: that individual healthcare is not a commodity, but a right.
As someone who works in the UK healthcare advertising industry, DTC advertising in the UK is an exciting prospect—but as a thinking person with some conscience, I have significant reservations about what this could mean for people.
DTC advertising is hugely lucrative for the US pharmaceutical and advertising industry, both of which enjoy bottom lines orders of magnitude larger than anything seen in Europe. But the US healthcare system is objectively broken, and notorious for it.
Punitive medical bills and sky-high insurance premiums make for a dystopian reality where basic treatment can be bankrupting for ordinary people.
America is also fighting an opioid and amphetamine epidemic.
America is also fighting an opioid and amphetamine epidemic.
While these woes cannot all be laid at the feet of DTC advertising alone, treating patients as consumers in this way is a symptom of a stark prevailing ideology in the US: that individual healthcare is a commodity and if you can’t afford good health, you don’t deserve it.
@Conservatives have made no secret of their admiration for the ultra-privatised US healthcare system, and you don’t need to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.
This COVID-19 vaccine serves as a Trojan horse to dismantle another bulwark against the encroaching commoditisation of our health.
Although the proposed 2020 amendments to the HMR 2012 are time limited and would cease to have effect on April 1st 2022, this auto-expiration is intended, in the government’s own words, “to allow fuller consideration of making a long-term change in this area.”
Expect permanent easing of restrictions and a broadening of the categories of medicines that can be advertised to the general public
In a few years, we may start to see national, multichannel medical advertising campaigns pushing prescription-only medicines to the general public
In a few years, we may start to see national, multichannel medical advertising campaigns pushing prescription-only medicines to the general public
If the amendments in the new HMR 2020 are ratified, the UK healthcare ad industry is set to explode. Great news if you work in this sphere, but at what cost to our public health? https://medium.com/@osondu/the-covid-19-vaccine-1114a9e1dd73?sk=25cd824298078eb00038e8c856732fde
The govt has launched an Open Consultation about the proposed changes, asking for suggestions and comments from the general public.
Have your say before it closes on 18th Sept https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/distributing-vaccines-and-treatments-for-covid-19-and-flu
Have your say before it closes on 18th Sept https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/distributing-vaccines-and-treatments-for-covid-19-and-flu
