Nurofen Makers Are Caught Out

Nurofen is one of the biggest household names for pain-relief on the market, but it has recently come under heavy fire from critics. The pharmaceuticals company faces heavy criticism and investigation by the UK’s advertising watchdog after courts in Australian demanded that certain versions of the painkiller be taken off the market.

Trouble for Nurofen began after Australia’s federal court ruled that the company were purposefully producing a drug in a way that was misleading to customers. It was ruled that the British firm, Reckitt Benckiser, have been deceiving customers by selling ‘spot-specific’ painkillers which were identical to standard ones, but sold for almost double the price.

12 complaints have been made in the UK against the company which charges nearly twice as much money for products such as ‘Nurofen Period Pain,’ ‘Nurofen Tension Headache,’ and ‘Nurofen Migraine Pain,’ despite the fact that the ingredients of the painkillers were almost identical to that of standard ones.

The British Advertising Standards Authority have confirmed that an investigation into Nurofen has been launched after complaints that the product misleads customers into believing that these ‘spot-specific’ products can directly target the muscles causing pain, when in actual fact none of the products are more or less effective at treating particular symptoms. Further complaints also criticise Nurofen’s advertisements which apparently deceive viewers by claiming that Nurofen “gives you faster headache relief than standard paracetamol or ibuprofen.”

A spokeswoman for Nurofen would not comment on the ongoing investigation, but has confirmed that despite the Australian court’s ruling, the products in question are still available in the UK.