The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has issued fines worth $171,972 to medicinal cannabis supplier Better Leaf Pty Ltd.
The 11 infringement notices include nine totalling $164,460 issued to the company, and two notices totalling $7,512 issued to an individual.
The TGA alleges Better Leaf has contravened the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, by advertising its products online without the express consent of the TGA.
Advertisements allegedly promoted the use or supply of medicinal cannabis and made references to the treatment of serious diseases or conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and epilepsy, without approval or permission from the TGA.
A TGA spokesperson said medicinal cannabis suppliers need to be conscious of the rules around advertising.
“The TGA reminds businesses that medicinal cannabis products are prescription-only medicines and cannot be advertised to Australian consumers. This includes direct references to medicinal cannabis or indirect references, through abbreviations or acronyms, such as ‘THC’ and ‘CBD’ or the use of colloquialisms such as ‘plant medicine’,” the spokesperson said.
“The TGA, as a priority, is taking strong enforcement action to deter and disrupt unlawful advertising of medicinal cannabis.”
Better Leaf is one of a growing number of cannabis clinics in Australia, offering the same kinds of 360-degree services as Australia’s controversial vertically integrated ADHD clinics. They received widespread publicity for opening Australia’s first physical cannabis dispensary in Melbourne, with a second underway in Sydney.
With the number of authorised prescribers climbing rapidly and new entrants into the Australian pharmaceuticals industry, the TGA has turned its attention to ensuring everyone follows the same guidelines as other pharmaceutical companies.
The TGA has already thrown the book at a number of medicinal cannabis suppliers for echoing the advertising tactics used by companies in the United States, where advertising prescription medications directly to consumers is legal.
Over the past two years, the TGA has issued 119 infringement notices totalling over $1.4 million in response to alleged unlawful advertising in the medicinal cannabis industry.
CDA Clinics QLD and its former director Benjamin Jansen are before the Federal Court for advertising benefits of an unproven and unapproved product in December.
Naturally Elevated copped a $138,600 fine in September. Trava Health received a $82,500 fine in July.
But the TGA has struggled with one serial offender — Montu, and subsidiary Alternaleaf. Proceedings commenced in April against both companies and their shared director, Christopher Strauch.
In a statement, the TGA alleged Strauch is personally responsible for the advertising strategy they employed.
“The advertisements also allegedly implied that medicinal cannabis had been approved or recommended by the TGA, represented medicinal cannabis to be safe or without harm or side effects, or magical or miraculous [and] included endorsements from current or former health professionals,” it said.
“The TGA alleges that Mr Strauch aided, abetted, counselled or procured the alleged contraventions by Montu and Alternaleaf. Additionally, the TGA alleges that Mr Strauch is personally liable for the alleged contraventions by the companies.
“Despite repeated warnings by the TGA about the alleged non-compliant advertising, the companies continued to advertise medicinal cannabis.”
Alternaleaf’s ads are still running, albeit without an obvious reference to cannabis beyond the service’s name.
The TGA had more success asking the Dolphins NRL club to remove Alternaleaf’s branding from signage and jerseys, but concerns remain among medical professionals about Australia’s growing vertically integrated cannabis industry.
Writing for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Dr David Lam suggested more GPs becoming authorised prescribers of medicinal cannabis would result in better outcomes for patients.
“Almost 10 years since the legalisation of medical cannabis in Australia, a widespread lack of knowledge among doctors is still the main barrier to cannabis prescribing,” he said.
“Other obstacles include a time-intensive prescribing process, divided opinions on the net usefulness of cannabis and negative attitudes towards prescribers from their peers.
“But even though the average GP may feel uncomfortable or reluctant to proceed when a patient brings up medicinal cannabis, our important role cannot be ignored.”
This piece was originally published in The Mandarin.
