As of 1 January, amendments to Part 8 of Art.24 of Federal Law No.38-FZ ‘On advertising’ (the Advertising Law) dated 13 March 2006 have been in effect. Part 8 provides that the advertising of drugs in forms and doses dispensed on prescriptions, medical services and medical products that require special training is prohibited other than: l in places where medical or pharmaceutical exhibitions, seminars, conferences or other similar events are held; and l in special print media published for medical or pharmaceutical workers. These bans apply solely to the medical services determined by the ‘Nomenclature of medical services approved by Order No.1664n of the Ministry of Health Care and Social Development of the Russian Federation’ dated 27 December 2011 (the ‘Nomenclature of medical services’). Therefore, if an advertised medical service is specified in the Nomenclature of medical services, dissemination of such advertising is possible only in places provided by the Advertising Law. This is confirmed by Clarifications No.AK/1193/14 ‘On amending Federal Law “On advertising”’ of the Federal Antitrust service, dated 20 January 2014. The amendments sparked criticism from pharmaceutical industry experts and in response the ministry put forward an initiative to develop amendments to the law, referring to the fact that the bans could decrease the availability of information about medical services for the public and affect the interests of commercial clinics. Evidently, the consequences of restrictions in the Advertising Law were not properly thought through and it is possible that the norm will be revised.

Read full article of Irina Akimova, of counsel, Antitrust Practice, Capital Legal Services