Implementing Medusa Monitor for peace of mind when managing websites

Pharmaceutical websites and other digital assets are often a concern for organisations, where there is a risk that the approved content could be subject to technical errors later down the line. Some of which, the content developer may not be aware of.

Therefore, there is the potential risk that a company could inadvertently be in breach of the ABPI Code, even when they have shown best practice and maintained high standards in abiding by the Code.

In 2023, Boehringer Ingelheim was found in breach of clauses 5.1, 12.1, and 12.4 (Case AUTH/3744/2/23) after a complaint that a product prescribing information link on a promotional website hosted by a third-party was not functional.

An internal investigation revealed that the third-party had not been informed of a PI page withdrawal which caused the broken link.

BI had the correct procedures and training in place to ensure that the company understood the Code requirements for digital materials, however, the impact of later retiring promotional materials that the third-party site was linked to had not been considered.

It wouldn’t be a good use of time or money to keep running content and functionality checks of entire websites to make sure there are no compliance issues. Implementing Medusa Monitor which keeps track of all company websites avoids the need to do this and provides to opportunity to rectify findings in a timely fashion. It also demonstrates that compliance is considered a high priority.

Whilst not an everyday occurrence, medDigital has seen a surprising number of unexpected issues occur for websites that are being scanned by Medusa Monitor. Often, this is a result of working with pre-production environments that are not completely separate from the live site.

These include:

Our Medusa Monitor service provides:

We are a tech-enhanced team of Scientific Advisors and Specialists who are experts in applying the ABPI Code to digital pharmaceutical activities.

Find out more about Medusa Monitor by contacting us at https://www.meddigital.com/contact.