AUTH/3905/5/24: Nexplanon ad and linked website challenged for missing contraindications (no breach)

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Key facts

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Case number	AUTH/3905/5/24
Company	Organon UK
Complainant	Anonymous, contactable complainant (concerned healthcare professional)
Medicine	Nexplanon (etonogestrel)
Material/channel	Advertisement on a closed community professional network for doctors in the UK; external link to Nexplace website
Main allegation	Missing clinically significant information/contraindications; linked webpage also allegedly missing contraindications
Applicable Code	2021
Clauses considered	2, 5.1, 6.1, 6.2
Outcome	No breach of Clause 2; No breach of Clause 5.1 (x2); No breach of Clause 6.1 (x2); No breach of Clause 6.2 (x2)
Complaint received	15 May 2024
Case completed	18 February 2025
Appeal	No appeal

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

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An anonymous, contactable healthcare professional complained about a Nexplanon advertisement shown on a closed community professional network for UK doctors.
The complainant alleged the ad omitted “clinically significant facets” that could affect prescribing, including that the product could increase risk in certain patients with an increased risk of cancer, and that it did not include SmPC contraindications.
The complainant also alleged the ad linked to the Nexplace website, which (they said) also failed to mention significant contraindications.
The ad was a small, single-frame, mostly text advertisement aimed at opted-in GPs and genitourinary medicine (GUM) specialists, intended to drive traffic to Nexplace.
The ad included: a headline question, a sentence describing Nexplanon as the only subdermal contraceptive implant in the UK and “effective and convenient”, a “Learn more” external link, a link to prescribing information, an adverse event reporting statement, and a reference/link to the SmPC.
The Nexplace pre-login homepage included the indication and a prominent link to prescribing information plus supporting documentation links (PI, SmPC, PIL), but did not list contraindications; the post-login homepage included a section (“Who is Nexplanon for?”) listing the SmPC contraindications.

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