Astellas voluntary admission: Vesicare ad exceeded two-page limit in Pulse (Clause 6.3)

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Key facts

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Case number	AUTH/2568/12/12
Company	Astellas Pharma Ltd
Product	Vesicare (solifenacin)
Publication	Pulse
Issue/date	5 December 2012
What triggered the case	Voluntary admission (treated as a complaint under the Authority’s Constitution and Procedure)
Main issue	Three pages of Vesicare advertising printed (1-page ad plus 2-page bound insert), exceeding the two-page maximum
Relevant material refs	VES12419UK; VES12431UK
Applicable Code year	2012
Breach clause(s)	Clause 6.3
Panel finding	Breach of Clause 6.3 ruled; company responsible for third parties acting on its behalf
Complaint received	11 December 2012 (site); 12 December 2012 (report)
Case completed	07 February 2013
Appeal	No appeal
Sanctions	Undertaking received; additional sanctions not stated

Reviewed by Dr Anzal Qurbain (FFPM) — ABPI Final Signatory

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Astellas booked a single-page Vesicare (solifenacin) advertisement for the 5 December 2012 issue of Pulse (ref VES12419UK).
Astellas then withdrew the single-page ad and replaced it with a two-page bound insert combining the original Vesicare ad with a VIP (Vesicare Information Programme) patient support programme ad (ref VES12431UK), intending to stay within the two-page maximum.
Email correspondence showed clear instructions from Astellas’s agency/media buyer to remove the single-page ad and run only the two-page bound insert; Pulse confirmed this.
Pulse mistakenly printed both the single-page ad and the two-page bound insert, resulting in three pages of Vesicare advertising in the same issue.
Astellas voluntarily admitted the issue; under the Authority’s Constitution and Procedure, the Director treated the voluntary admission as a complaint.
Pulse admitted liability and apologised, but Astellas argued it had taken all reasonable steps and had been let down by the publisher.

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Breach ruled: the issue contained three pages of advertising for Vesicare, exceeding the Code limit of no more than two pages for a particular product.
The Panel reiterated the established principle that companies are responsible for work undertaken by third parties on their behalf.
No appeal.

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