French Ban On Abbott Zeclar Campaign

An entire promotional campaign by Abbott of the USA for its antibiotic Zeclar (clarithromycin), recently named as drug of the year, has been banned by France's national drug agency. The action follows a series of moves this year against drug promotion by companies in France although, according to a report in the economic journal Les Echos, this is the first time that an entire campaign has been banned.

The agency says the campaign for the Abbott drug, which is 65%-reimbursed by the health funds, presented Zeclar as having higher effectiveness than other antibiotics of the same family, and had claimed that its use was essential in the treatment of common respiratory infections. This, said the agency was excessive, and "capable of misleading doctors," especially as the promotion omitted basic scientific details for the prescriber.

Moreover, said the agency, the "problems of increased pneumococcal resistance" involved in the use of this type of antibiotic had been obscured.