ACT Health has targeted parents and mothers networks via social media to participate in a clinical trial without disclosing its partnership with a major pharmaceutical company.
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The Facebook post aimed to recruit 18-24 month old toddlers for a study of a new Meningococcal B vaccine.
The trial will examine the Pfizer vaccine which is approved for use in 10-25 year olds in the United States.
In Australia there is already a Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved vaccine available for Meningococcal B, recommended for use in patients older than 2 months, developed by global pharmaceutical company Novartis.
Health Care Consumers' Association ACT director Darlene Cox said ACT Health's move into the digital space was in line with industry wide trends.
But she criticised their initial post for its failure to provide adequate detail about the trial or the commercial partnership with Pfizer behind it.
"We didn't re-post the post they tagged us in for a couple of reasons," she said.
"I don't think the quality of the information, just in that little infographic that they put on is sufficient."
She said what was missing were hyperlinks giving consumers easy access to frequently asked questions, and the risks and benefits of participating.
"This is all about informed consent. ACT Health and Pfizer need to be clear with consumers what those risks are," she said.
Ms Cox said ACT Health had not been transparent about working with a pharmaceutical company.
"Pfizer stands to earn significant money out of this if it's effective. If there a commercial relationship between ACT Health and Pfizer, it's not clear to us."
Neither Pfizer nor ACT Health would comment on the commercial nature of the agreement.
Last year Pfizer Australia invested about $17 million in Australian clinical trial sites.
Canberra's is one of a series of clinical trials the multi-national drug company has conducted across Australia and overseas as part of its global clinical development program for the new vaccine.
Sydney University Associate Professor of Paediatrics and member of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Vaccines Kristine Macartney said the Novartis vaccine was not funded under the National Immunisation Program and could cost health consumers up to $150 per dose.
She said while it was procedure for all materials, including marketing, to be approved by an ethics committee, she was surprised at the lack of information on the social media post.
An ACT Health spokeswoman said trial participants would be made aware of the already approved medication and it was commonplace in the health sector for such trials to "investigate the potential for new types of vaccines and to increase vaccine availability".
The spokeswoman said using social media enabled the government to reach more potential participants in the age groups most at risk of the life-threatening Meningococcal disease.
"This is the first time ACT Health has used social media to reach potential participants for a research study," she said.
"It is clear from the response so far that there is a strong network of parents in Canberra with an interest in health, and being involved in studies or research seeking to improve children's health outcomes."
A Pfizer Australia spokesman said the company regularly partnered with physicians, hospitals and academia in order to conduct medical research.
"The recruitment of clinical trial participants is the responsibility of the investigator, in this case Canberra Hospital and ACT Health, and recruitment materials have received approval from ACT Health Human Research Ethics Committee," the spokesman said.
According to the company about 500,000 cases of meningococcal disease occur worldwide each year.
There are various types of meningococcal strains in Australia with B and C being the most common.
