Medicines Act 1981

Miscellaneous provisions

100: Power of court to restrict publication of name of medicine

You could also call this:

"Courts can stop people publishing a medicine's name for 5 years to keep it private"

You can be in a court case where a medicine is mentioned. The court can decide not to let people publish the name of the medicine for 5 years. This helps keep the medicine's name private while the case is happening. You might still see the medicine's name in scientific publications or if you are a scientist or a member of certain professions. This is because these people need to know about the medicine for their work. They might be scientists, lawyers, doctors, or nurses. If the court says the medicine's name cannot be published, you must not publish it for 5 years. This includes not publishing any details that could help people figure out what medicine is being talked about. If you do publish the medicine's name or details, you can get in trouble with the law. The law about not publishing the medicine's name does not change other laws about what can and cannot be published in court cases. You should be aware that there are rules about what can be published, and you must follow them.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM56557.

This page was last updated on 5 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Public healthHealth and wellbeing > Healthcare servicesRights and equality > Privacy

99: Director-General to publish lists of general sale medicines, or

"What medicines can be sold to the public in New Zealand?"

101: Examination of Customs entries, or

"Checking imported medicine records"

Part 8Miscellaneous provisions

100Power of court to restrict publication of name of medicine

Where, in the course of proceedings in any court or before a Coroner, reference is made to any medicine, the court or Coroner may in its or his discretion order that the name of that medicine shall not be published in relation to those proceedings at any time before the expiration of a period of 5 years from the date of the final disposal of those proceedings.
Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), no order made under that subsection shall apply to the publication of that name to scientists or to members of the legal, medical, dental, veterinary, nursing, or pharmaceutical professions, or to persons studying to become scientists or members of those professions, or to designated prescribers, or in any publication of a scientific or technical character intended solely or principally for circulation among scientists or members of those professions or persons so studying.
Where the publication of the name of a medicine is prohibited under this section in relation to any proceedings, no person shall, within the said period of 5 years, publish the name of that medicine or any name or particulars likely to lead to the identification of the description or class of medicine as the description or class of medicine to which the medicine referred to in those proceedings belonged.
Nothing in this section shall limit the provisions of any other enactment relating to the prohibition or regulation of the publication of reports or particulars relating to any judicial proceedings.
Every person commits an offence against this Act who contravenes subsection (3).

Compare

1960 No 97 s 43
1964 No 31 s 2
1979 No 27 s 78

Notes

Section 100(2): amended, on 15 October 1999, by section 13 of the Medicines Amendment Act 1999 (1999 No 117).