Law Interactive learning programme focuses on healthcare advertising law

Is the use of stories of illness to advertise medical devices in the public press permitted? May a corporate publication or website contain statements by medical patients? Questions like these are answered for German medical technology companies by a new e-learning tool from BVMed.

Firmen zum Thema

QOSINA

Micro Systems Technologies Management AG

As its title has it, the tool focuses on the “Law on Advertising in the Health Care System (HWG) and Medical Devices”. It examines the ever present question of the limits set by the HWG on the advertising and informational activities of German medtech companies.

Medicine and health are sensitive topics. Said BVMed CEO and executive board member Joachim M. Schmitt: “Medical information is underlain by a particular responsibility: What legal framework needs to be considered? What legal pitfalls are there? What is permitted, and what is prohibited? With the new e-learning tool, we intend to provide medtech companies with practical tips and a genuine advance in knowledge.”

Schmitt’s summary: “According to the HWG, companies are permitted to do far more than they believe when advertising medical devices.”

Legal expert Dr. Ulrich Reese from the law firm Clifford Chance reported that, “in the course of the 16th amendment to the German pharmaceutical law (AMG), the HWG provisions for medical devices will also be further relaxed in the autumn. For example, objective and non-misleading advertising featuring statements by patients (testimonial advertising) will also be permissible in public advertising in the future. The ban on the use of foreign- and professional-language descriptions in public advertising for medical devices will also be lifted. The e-learning tool conveys these important facts in a practice-based and comprehensible way.”

Added developer Dr. Ingo Carl: “The questions and their detailed explanations in the interactive tool convey, in an entertaining manner, practical knowledge about applying the HWG.” BVMed has additionally coupled the tool with practical guidelines on the HWG.

The learning programme can be retrieved from the BVMed website free of charge. It contains a fictitious advertisement with sophisticated questions on legal permissibility. The e-learning tool was created by BVMed in collaboration with Reese and was designed and technically implemented by Carl.

Link to e-learning tool

For further information:

BVMed - Bundesverband Medizintechnologie e.V.

Berlin, Germany

www.bvmed.de

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