The Wire with Emilia Sullivan

New Zealand and the United States are the only two countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise their products directly to consumers.

Even medical bodies such as the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners have strongly come out in the past backing such a ban.

This interview with Royal NZ College of GP Medical Director Bryan Betty is part of a larger story on Direct To Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising in New Zealand.

New Zealand and the United States are the only two countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise their products directly to consumers.

Until a couple of years ago, I was unaware of the ban on Pharmaceutical advertising outside of New Zealand and the US. Whenever the side effects of a particular ad popped up, despite not being the target audience for said drug, it always filled me with a sense of existential dread. New Zealand ads typically display side effects in small black text to the bottom of the screen and are never discussed by the advertiser, making it easy to miss.

This piece seeks to investigate how direct to consumer advertising works, and whether the practice should be banned in New Zealand. 

On The Wire for Rāhina Monday!

Joe speaks to Kurt Krause, a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Otago, about NZ’s first case of Monkeypox. He also speaks to Max Rashbrooke, a Research Associate for the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, about political donation regulation and the motivation behind it.

Trishil speaks to Professor David Menkes, Consumer NZ Research and Test Writer Belinda Castles, Health Minister Andrew Little, Royal NZ College of GPs Medical Director Dr Bryan Betty, and National Health Spokesperson Dr Shane Reti about Pharmaceutical Advertising in New Zealand, and whether the practise should be banned.

And for this weeks Tomorrow’s World, Isla and Stella spoke to Dr Emma Sharp from the University of Auckland about her projects with Soilsafe Aotearoa.

That's us for the Monday Wire!

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, announced his resignation from leading the Conservative Party.

Liam gave a report on Johnson's resignation, and what he represents as one of the largest figures of UK politics. The report includes a comment given to Casper by Stephen Hoadley from the University of Auckland on whether the move could have been predicted.