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Advert for GlucoRx foot cream. Bit of a rant.

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Robin

Robin

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A leaflet dropped out of the bottom of my GlucoRx needle box (not a brand I usually get prescribed, fortunately, I haven’t got on with them very well) advertising their skin cream. A114DCFE-DFBC-4A92-8E57-6A2829D0D21B.jpeg
It alleges that '80% of diabetic patients will experience foot ulcers in their lifetime.' That struck me as a heck of a lot, so I did a bit of ferreting. They allege their source is the NICE guidelines, but when I looked, I could only find a reference to 10%.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng19/chapter/Context
When I looked on GucoRx's website, they state that 80% of diabetic patients will experience foot problems, in which they seem to include dry skin, That’s more believable!
So I have emailed them, asking for their exact source, and pointing out that isn’t exactly what one wants to read when opening a box of needles to deal with ones diabetes. I await their reply, and will report back.
 
Very misleading. Cracked skin and ulcers are not the same thing.
 
grovesy said:
Wonder if the MHRA would be interested?
Click to expand...
I think their remit is confined to the performance of the actual product, and doesn’t extend to misleading advertising. If I don’t get a sensible reply, I might try the advertising standards authority.
 
I think advertising standards would be interested in that 80% foot ulcer claim, if you’ve found the reference to say 10% @Robin !!
 
Advertising standards would be all over this in a flash
 
Scare tactics to persuade consumer to buy goods, well spotted Robin, good on you for putting company right, be interesting to see what reply is, they dont respond report them to trading standards.
 
I used to have those needles and they always had a card either for their meter or that ruddy cream. The needles are awful (frequently blunt) and I hate that advert for the foot foam (grrr). The website info about the foam is also littered with reference to amputation. So unprofessional, insensitive and manipulative. I was so glad when I was switched back to BD needles because I couldn’t cope with the anger every time I opened a box of needles 🙄
 
I haven’t had a response from GluoRx, so I’ve put in a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. They say they will respond in up to 15 working days, so I will report back on any developments as and when.
 
Just an update on this. I heard back from the ASA today thanking me for referring this to them, and saying that yes, they believe this has broken their rules, and they will be writing to GlucoRx for their assurance that they will change the statistic to the correct one. If they don’t comply, the ASA will take it further.
 
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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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