After Australia, UK's ASA to probe Reckitt Benckiser's Nurofen claim

Reckitt Benckiser, which makes the painkiller Nurofen, will be under the UK advertising watchdog's scanner over claims of misleading consumers.

The action comes after an Australian court ordered the company to stop sales of several versions of the painkiller, which it ruled were identical to its standard pills, but priced twice the amount.

The Federal Court had ruled Nurofen Back Pain, Period Pain, Migraine Pain and Tension Headache Products were, in fact, identical and the company had "engaged in misleading conduct" by labelling them for different ailments, the Federal Court ruled.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) had now confirmed it was looking into 12 complaints about a television advertisement for Nurofen Express.

The watchdog would examine whether the company made misleading claims implying that the product directly targeted muscles in the head.

"We received the complaints in February and launched an investigation in March,'' an ASA spokesman said.

"This is a complex case and our investigation is ongoing...The advertiser is providing evidence to substantiate its claims, we're carefully assessing that and we'll publish our findings in due course," he added.

According to a Nurofen spokeswoman, the Australian court ruling did not affect its UK products and they would continue to be available.

The company was ordered by an Australian court yesterday, to remove several versions of its popular painkiller from stores in Australia after it found the company misled consumers about the products' effectiveness (See: Australian court orders Reckitt Benckiser's Nurofen pain relief products pulled out of market).

According to the Australian federal court, the UK consumer goods company deceived Australians by selling Nurofen painkillers that were marketed to relieve specific ailments, such as back pain, when the active ingredient ibuprofen lysine was the same in all products.

Australia's consumer watchdog launched the court action in March, arguing that consumers were being tricked into thinking that the four products - Nurofen Back Pain, Nurofen Period Pain, Nurofen Migraine Pain and Nurofen Tension Headache - were designed to treat a specific type of pain, when in fact, they were all the same.

"None of the four products is any more or less effective than the others in treating any of the particular symptoms," justice James Edelman wrote in his judgment.

Edelman asked Reckitt Benckiser to remove the products in three months from Australian stores. The company markets various health and household goods in Australia.

Reckitt Benckiser said it would comply with the order and replace the products with new packaging that clearly states the drugs are equally effective at treating other forms of pain.

"The Nurofen specific-pain range was launched with an intention to help consumers navigate their pain relief options, particularly within the grocery environment where there is no health care professional to assist decision making," Nurofen spokeswoman Montse Pena said in a statement. "Nurofen did not set out to mislead consumers."

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which started the court action, said the price of Nurofen's specific pain products was nearly double that of Nurofen's standard ibuprofen painkiller and other general pain relief products sold by competitors.

"Truth in advertising and consumer issues in the health and medical sectors are priority areas for the ACCC, to ensure that consumers are given accurate information when making their purchasing decisions," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement. "Any representations which are difficult for a consumer to test will face greater scrutiny from the ACCC," it added.