Drug firms attacked on marketing

The Consumers International lobby group accused drugmakers of using the methods to get doctors to prescribe products and persuade consumers they need them.

Drug firms say that they act within strict guidelines.

One report said only one of the firms studied, Orion Pharma, provided specific marketing budget information.

It also pointed to the "large numbers of serious, recent and repeated breaches of marketing codes".

This showed the "current regulatory framework is clearly insufficient to prevent systemic violations of marketing regulations".