At its latest meeting, the NOAH Code of Practice Committee, chaired by Richard Arnold QC, heard one case in which Novartis Animal Health was found in breach in respect of two items under complaint in respect of the promotion of Fortekor.

The Committee considered that the first item complained of encouraged the prescription of Fortekor for dogs with NYHA Stage 1 Mitral Valve Disease and therefore was inconsistent with the SPC because such dogs do not have heart failure as opposed to MVD.

The Committee considered that the second item complained of was disparaging of a competitor's product since it failed to make it clear that the study cited concerned off-label use of the competitor’s product and since it presented the conclusions of the study with regard to the competitor’s product in an unduly negative manner. For the same reasons the Committee considered that the item complained of was not a balanced presentation of the study.

NOAH encourages those interested in finding out more to read the full details of the Committee’s rulings on the NOAH website at www.noah.co.uk/code. The full report of this particular case is now online.