Chapter II: Advertising.

Any advertisement within the meaning of Article L. 5122-1 made to the public or to healthcare professionals for a medicinal product mentioned in 1° of II of Article L. 5121-12 benefiting from an early access authorisation under the same Article L. 5121-12 or for a medicinal product benefiting from an authorisation or a compassionate prescription framework mentioned in Article L. 5121-12-1, for the authorised or controlled indication(s), is punishable by…

Any advertising to the public of a medicinal product within the meaning of Article L. 5122-1 is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of €150,000: 1° Subject to medical prescription ; 2° Reimbursable by compulsory health insurance schemes, except in the case provided for in the third paragraph of article L. 5122-6 ; 3° Whose marketing authorisation or registration includes restrictions on advertising to the public due to…

Any advertisement within the meaning of article L. 5122-1 which has not obtained approval pursuant to articles L. 5122-8 and L. 5122-9 or which is carried out despite the suspension or withdrawal of approval is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of €150,000.

Providing samples of medicinal products is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of €75,000: 1° To persons not authorised to prescribe or dispense medicinal products in the context of in-house pharmacies ; 2° To persons authorised to prescribe or dispense medicinal products in the context of in-house pharmacies, without these persons having expressed a request to do so; 3° Containing substances classified as psychotropic or narcotic, or to…

The grant, offer or promise to persons authorised to prescribe or supply medicinal products of a bonus, pecuniary advantage or advantage in kind, unless these are of negligible value, to promote medicinal products, is punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a fine of €75,000.

Any advertisement for the objects, devices or methods mentioned in article L. 5122-15 without complying with the obligation to mention the warnings and precautions for use necessary to inform the consumer or despite the ban imposed by the Director General of the Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé is punishable by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.

In the cases referred to in this chapter, the court may prohibit the sale and order the seizure and confiscation of the aforementioned medicines, products, objects and devices, as well as the seizure and destruction of documents and advertising objects relating to them or to the aforementioned methods.

The following constitutes a breach subject to financial penalties: 1° Any advertising of a medicinal product which has not obtained the authorisation referred to in articles L. 5121-8 and L. 5121-9-1 or the parallel import authorisation pursuant to article L. 5124-13 or one of the registrations referred to in articles L. 5121-13 and L. 5121-14-1 ; 2° Any advertisement within the meaning of article L. 5122-1 made to the public…