Call for ban on misleading private medical screening adverts

25 June 2010

MISLEADING adverts for private medical screenings should be banned, say doctors’ leaders.

The British Medical Association and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges have joined forces to call for an end to "irresponsible" marketing campaigns. BMA chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum and AMRC chairman Professor Sir Neil Douglas have written a letter to health secretary Andrew Lansley highlighting the issue.

The letter expressed concerns that "misleading" direct marketing of private health screening tests was exploitative.

Dr Meldrum said: "Some private companies are taking advantage of vulnerable people by claiming that the health screening they offer will detect diseases early or reduce an individual’s risk of developing specific illnesses."

He said that the types of safeguards that exist in the NHS to ensure patients are offered tests as part of "high-quality screening programmes" do not exist in the private sector. He said this "makes it impossible for people to distinguish between private testing services that may do some good, and those that are of no value or even potentially harmful."

Professor Douglas added: "There are significant risks with direct-to-consumer tests. Many are unreliable and inaccurate. Patients may be falsely reassured, or undergo avoidable and sometimes invasive follow-up tests and treatments. Unnecessary procedures may have long-term or permanent complications which can place a burden on the NHS."

In a joint statement, the BMA and the Academy have called on the UK government to strengthen the marketing rules for health screening to ensure that advertising is factual and balanced.

They want all marketing material to include information on a range of issues including the risks associated with the test, the implications of the results and any follow-up required, procedures that aren’t included in the price of the test and any financial gain or conflict of interest by those providing or recommending the tests.

They added that there should be a robust system in place to monitor compliance with the suggested regulations, including strong penalties for those who flout the rules.

Read the statement in full here.