Richelle Cooper and David Schriger1 report their analysis of original research cited in pharmaceutical advertisements appearing in medical journals published in the United States. However, the standards for advertisements in US medical journals differ from those for Canadian ones. Almost all of the advertisements appearing in the latter are reviewed and precleared by the Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board (PAAB). The standards of the PAAB “Code of Advertising Acceptance” are publicly available.2
Advertising reviewed and authorized by the PAAB must meet the following criteria:
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The advertisement must contain a list of references for medical claims. These references are analyzed by PAAB reviewers, who have received training in critical appraisal from expert academics teaching at leading Canadian medical schools.
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All references used to support claims must be provided to the PAAB during the review process, which provides assurance that they exist and are obtainable.
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All references used must be available to health care professionals on request.
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The advertisement must not contain data-on-file references unless such studies were part of a New Drug Submission reviewed by Health Canada.
Although not prohibited by the PAAB code, the fact that the majority of original research cited to substantiate claims is in some way affiliated with the product's manufacturer is considered during the review process. The code requires that “Clinical/therapeutic claims must be based on published, well- controlled and/or well-designed studies with clinical and statistical significance clearly indicated. Publication in peer-reviewed journals is usually a good criterion for establishing scientific rigor.”2 This exceeds the standard for accredited continuing education events.