30 Miss. Code. R. 2635-13.9

Current through December 10, 2024

Rule 30-2635-13.9 - Advertising

As to the advertising of alternative therapies, data purportedly supporting unproven interventions commonly undermines information about risks and overemphasizes information about benefits. Information presented in advertising, including but not limited to clinic websites and social media, shall be represented accurately and come from reputable peer-reviewed publications or respected external organizations.

Even where an appropriate informed consent process seems to be in place, deceptive or fraudulent information contained within practice advertising, websites, and other marketing materials could mislead patients into consenting to treatment, thereby invalidating the informed consent process.

Treatment options described and accompanied by supporting information in the form of journal articles, patient testimonials, claims of partnerships with academic institutions, mentions of affiliations with professional societies or networks, statements regarding receipt of FDA approval or explicit mention of exemption from FDA oversight, listings of patents granted, statements that clinical trials of investigational interventions are being conducted, and accolades related either to the practice itself or its affiliated physicians and researchers, which serve to exaggerate, inflate, or misrepresent information derived from legitimate or questionable sources, shall be deemed a violation of the Board's advertising regulations ¹ and unprofessional conduct likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public. ²

Although not all-encompassing, the following represents instances of improper or misleading advertising practices which the Board would consider unprofessional and deceptive in nature:

1. Asserting certification of products or practices by international standards organizations or claiming training certification, in order to legitimize alternative therapies;

2. Convening scientific or medical advisory boards featuring prominent business leaders and academic faculty members in order to legitimize alternative therapies;

3. Registering trials whose apparent purpose is solely to attract patients willing to pay to participate in them;

4. Using the statement or impression of "ethics review" to convey a sense of legitimacy to products or procedures;

5. Renting of laboratory or business space within a legitimate scientific or government institution in order to legitimize alternative therapies;

6. Using membership in established academic or professional societies to suggest legitimacy by association;

7. Publication of open-ended voluntary monitoring data sets rather than undertaking controlled clinical trials;

8. Suggesting that patent applications or grants indicate clinical utility rather than initiation of an application process or recognition of novelty and inventiveness;

9. Publishing research and commentary in journals with limited anonymous peer review;

10. Citing preclinical and other research findings to justify clinical application without sufficient efficacy testing in humans;

11. Forming organizations to self-regulate in ways that support premature commercialization; and

12. Providing expert opinions or celebrity comments on unsupported clinical uses or standing of the provider.

30 Miss. Code. R. 2635-13.9

Miss. Code Ann. § 73-43-11 (1972, as amended).

Adopted 8/26/2019