The appellate advertising body of the BBB National Programs issued an ongoing legal escalation concerning product claims for companion animal’s product BRAVECTO Quantum Injectable Sol of Merck Animal Health:
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The Dispute: A panel of the NARB officially referred Intervet, Inc. (doing business as Merck Animal Health) to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The referral stems from Merck’s failure to comply with a previous recommendation to alter the express “once-a-year” dosing advertisements for its Bravecto® Quantum injectable flea and tick treatment for dogs.
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The Ruling: The NARB upheld findings that the continuous “1 full year” marketing claims are fundamentally inaccurate. While the treatment covers several tick species for 12 months, its FDA-approved timeline for protecting dogs against the Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum) is strictly eight months
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Corporate Response: Merck Animal Health formally agreed to update its fine print with a prominent disclosure regarding the 8-month Lone Star Tick limitation near the primary text. However, they declined to modify their core headline claims to state “up to one year of protection,” arguing that doing so would unfairly hamstring their marketing relative to veterinary pharmaceutical competitors
