Category Archives: Advertising

Avemar, a Food for Special Medical Purposes for Cancer Patients?

Posted on August 20, 2021 by Dr Ken Harvey

This case is yet another example of a major discrepancy in consumer protection between therapeutic claims made for medicines for which the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code applies (administered by the TGA), compared to therapeutic claims made for food for which … Continue reading →

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TGA allows alcohol as a reward for COVID-19 vaccination

Posted on July 23, 2021 by Dr Ken Harvey

TGA rules initially prohibited alcohol, tobacco, or registered medicines from being offered as rewards to those who had received full COVID-19 vaccination. Accordingly, they had told the Prince Alfred Hotel in Port Melbourne to stop offering complimentary alcoholic beverages to vaccinated … Continue reading →

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Caruso’s Prostate EZE Max gets a TGA AUST L(A) listing

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Dr Ken Harvey

A new ‘TGA assessed’ symbol and AUST L(A) listing on complementary medicines are meant to alert consumers that the TGA had assessed their health claims and found them supported by scientific evidence. On May 26, 2021, Caruso’s Prostate EZE Max … Continue reading →

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TGA lifts ban on GPs promoting COVID-19 vaccines

Posted on June 11, 2021 by Dr Ken Harvey

I posted the following comment to: TGA lifts ban on GPs promoting COVID-19 vaccines | Australian Doctor Group (ausdoc.com.au) Of course, health practitioners should be able to educate the public about COVID-19 vaccination! But “Such rewards can be monetary or … Continue reading →

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Hangover products still advertised despite complaints and lack of evidence

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Dr Ken Harvey

From July 2018 to July 2020, complaints about a convenience sample of eighteen complementary medicine hangover products, by eight sponsors, advertised on thirty different Internet sites (cases) were submitted to the TGA. It was alleged that all these advertisements breached … Continue reading →

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Resignation from TGACC

Posted on November 18, 2020 by Dr Ken Harvey

My resignation from the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Consultative Committee (TGACC) was precipitated by the non-response of Adj Professor John Skerritt, Deputy Secretary, Health Products Regulation Group, Department of Health, to long-standing issues raised yet again at the Skepticon 2020 regulatory … Continue reading →

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Independent Review of the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Framework: Recommendations

Posted on August 11, 2020 by Dr Ken Harvey

In 2018, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, Minister for Health, committed to a review of the impact of the new therapeutic goods advertising measures within two years from the commencement of the changes to the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 to … Continue reading →

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Complementary medicine weight loss products complaints submitted to the TGA in 2018-2019. Follow-up July 2020

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Dr Ken Harvey

This research was conducted by a team of Monash University BSc students on a Work Integrated Learning (WIL) placement, supervised by Assoc Prof Ken Harvey. The team reviewed the following complaints submitted on: 6 July 2018, Pharmacare Laboratories FatBlaster FatMagnet products, … Continue reading →

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Towards independence from commercial interests in health

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Dr Ken Harvey

An important collection of resources from the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Growing evidence shows that extensive financial relationships between industry and healthcare decision makers distort scientific research, medical education and the practice of medicine. The biggest problem is that industry … Continue reading →

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The TGA and COVID-19: Starting to use its compliance teeth!

Posted on June 22, 2020 by Dr Ken Harvey

Significant changes were made to the advertising framework of therapeutic goods during 2018-19. These included the TGA taking over the advertising complaint system, an updated, legally enforceable, advertising Code and stronger investigative and compliance powers. Yet the TGA initially appeared … Continue reading →

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