Superdrug censured over medicine claims

Melanie Godsell, Marketing, Wednesday, 01 November 2006, 12:00am,

Superdrug has been rapped by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after it upheld two complaints made by rival Boots.

The first complaint related to a card displayed on Superdrug's shelves that claimed Rennie Peppermint provided the 'best indigestion relief'. MHRA regulations prohibit the use of superlatives to describe medicinal products.

Boots also complained about claims made by a pharmacist in Superdrug's Spirit magazine that the retailer's own-brand paracetamol and codeine tablets, Pepto-Bismol and Stugeron 15 respectively, would sort out all 'holiday health niggles'. Pharmacists are restricted from advertising products by a code of conduct, according to the MHRA. In addition, no statutory information for medicine users was included.

Superdrug said it has now implemented extra checks for advertising materials to ensure it does not breach regulations in the future.

This article was first published on Marketing