European Union law prohibits companies from marketing drugs off-label. In the United Kingdom—as in some other European countries, but unlike the United States—industry self-regulatory bodies are tasked with supervising compliance with marketing rules. The objectives of this study were to (1) characterize off-label promotion rulings in the UK compared to the whistleblower-initiated cases in the US and (2) shed light on the UK self-regulatory mechanism for detecting, deterring, and sanctioning off-label promotion.

An analysis, based on a survey of the print advertisements and TV commercials for safety content, and the pricing policy for offering safety technology of six major automobile manufacturers, shows that manufacturers are not promoting safety issues or their safety technology in any significant manner. They are not offering airbags or anti-lock braking systems in most of the base models costing less than $12,000.

The Lancet Editorial (Oct 3, p 1312) correctly identified that Coca-Cola's goals differ greatly from those of the public health and research institutions that it funds.1 All organisations concerned with public interest need to guard against conflict of interest from Coca-Cola's vast marketing campaigns to safeguard public health.

The importance of hand-washing in personal and public hygiene has evolved over the centuries. While the market with its countless number of soaps and hand-wash products for personal hygiene with the accompanying advertising has created a false sense of security, it is community hygiene implemented through public health measures that is really effective in the battle against disease.

Estimate the amount of alcohol advertising in sport vs. non-sport programming in Australian free-to-air TV and identify children’s viewing audience composition at different times of the day. Alcohol advertising and TV viewing audience data were purchased for free-to-air sport and non-sport TV in Australia for 2012. We counted alcohol advertisements in sport and non-sport TV in daytime (6am-8.29pm) and evening periods (8.30pm-11.59pm) and estimated viewing audiences for children and young adults (0–4 years, 5–13 years, 14–17 years, 18–29 years).

In May 2012, the New York City Board of Health set a limit of 16 ounces on sugary drinks sold in city restaurants, theaters, and food carts, triggering international media attention and a firestorm of opposition. A majority of New Yorkers viewed the portion cap as a “bad idea”, and three-quarters of Americans opposed it. The soft drink industry embarked on a multimillion-dollar campaign to block the rule, culminating in a successful legal challenge.

To achieve WHO's target to halt the rise in obesity and diabetes, dramatic actions are needed to improve the healthiness of food environments. Substantial debate surrounds who is responsible for delivering effective actions and what, specifically, these actions should entail. Arguments are often reduced to a debate between individual and collective responsibilities, and between hard regulatory or fiscal interventions and soft voluntary, education-based approaches. Genuine progress lies beyond the impasse of these entrenched dichotomies.