U.S. senator urges voluntary limits on drug ads
Posted on: Friday, 1 July 2005, 15:47 CDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drug makers should voluntarily ban consumer-directed advertisements for new prescription medicines for the first two years after their launch, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said on Friday.
Frist also called on manufacturers to better balance portrayals of risks and benefits in their television, magazine and newspaper ads. He said he would support congressional action to protect consumers if voluntary efforts were too weak.
"Advertising should boldly and responsibly address safety head-on, replacing the upbeat fantasy land images with a frank discussion of a product's risks and benefits," the Tennessee Republican said on the Senate floor.
Frist also requested a probe by the Government Accountability Office into regulatory oversight of the ads and their potential impact on medication use, health-care costs and patient awareness of diseases and treatments.
Drug makers are working on voluntary guidelines to blunt criticism that their ads exaggerate benefits, gloss over side effects and lead to unnecessary prescriptions. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said in June it would wait a year after launch of a drug before advertising it to consumers.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug industry's U.S. lobbying group, defended consumer-directed advertising as a way to raise awareness of treatments.
"Educational advertising empowers patients to seek guidance from their doctors which can lead to earlier detection and treatment of diseases," said Ken Johnson, spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Frist, a heart transplant surgeon, said the two-year ban was necessary because "doctors and patients need time ... to be able to assess the benefits and know more about the risks" of new medicines.
Drug makers should be required to receive FDA approval for an ad before it runs, Frist said, adding that regulators needed more funding to review the thousands of drug-company promotions aimed at consumers each year.
Source: REUTERS
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