Online adverts for Lloydspharmacy's TENS Digital Pain Reliever and TENS Period Pain Reliever are "misleading" and must not appear again in their current form, according to a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The ruling by the ASA last Wednesday (August 1) came after two complaints were made about the online ads and a tweet about the period pain reliever product. Lloydspharmacy has said it is now reviewing its adverts in line with ASA recommendations.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled the Lloydspharmacy online ads were misleading after it received complaints

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A complainant challenged claims made by Lloydspharmacy that a TENS unit would "ease pain" and be "a highly effective treatment for pain", along with the "implied claim that the TENS Digital Pain Reliever could treat chronic pain". The complainant also questioned whether claims that the TENS Period Pain Reliever was "highly effective" and "really effective" in relieving period pain and menstrual cramps could be substantiated.

Lloydspharmacy said that the packaging for the TENs Digital Pain Reliever and the Period Pain Reliever, which contained the pain relief claims, was submitted to the Notified Body, TUV Rheinland and approved. Lloydspharmacy said it believed therefore that its pain relief claims were acceptable to that Notified Body.

The ASA upheld the complaints about the claim that the TENS Pain Reliever was a "highly effective treatment for pain" and the implications of this, saying it did not consider there was sufficient evidence to support such a strong claim and agreeing that the claim could lead customers to believe the device could treat chronic pain.

"We considered that the claim ‘a highly effective treatment for pain' was a strong efficacy claim, which would be understood to mean that the device could lead to the complete removal of pain for all patients, as opposed to the temporary or partial reduction of pain for some patients," ASA said.

The complaint against the Period Pain Reliever was also upheld, after it was decided that the claims made in the ad that the product was "highly effective" and "really effective" in relieving period pain and menstrual cramps were likely to mislead the public.

"We understood that the evidence presented in the technical file did not support the efficacy of the TENS Period Pain Reliever for menstrual cramps specifically and considered that the evidence was not sufficient to support the claim that the Period Pain Reliever was a ‘highly effective treatment' for relieving period pain and menstrual cramps or to show that the device provided lasting relief," the ASA said.

The complaint against the claim that the TENS Digital Pain Reliever would "ease pain" was not upheld, however. The ASA said that consumers were likely to understand the claim "a TENS unit will ease pain" to mean that the device could lead to the temporary relief of minor aches and pains in conjunction with other core treatment.

The ASA ruled that the ads must not appear again in their current form.

Responding to the verdict, a spokesperson for Lloydspharmacy said it was reviewing "as a matter of urgency" its communications in line with the ASA recommendations.