Drug Makers Agree on Advertising Code of Conduct
Posted on: Wednesday, 3 August 2005, 12:00 CDT
Aug. 3--WASHINGTON -- Drug makers vowed to no longer run brief television advertisements that fail to adequately describe risks associated with their products, and Pfizer Inc. said it will stop airing Viagra ads during times when the audience is mostly families or children.
Those were among the more dramatic concessions 23 members of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America agreed to yesterday.
The drug lobbying group's new guidelines come as some members of Congress seek stricter limits on consumer advertising and as the Food and Drug Administration moves to more aggressively regulate advertising that overstates drug benefits and minimizes risks.
While the leader of the lobbying group said the voluntary code of conduct promises to change the appearance, tone, and timing of television advertising, the guidelines did not include a moratorium on new drug advertising sought by US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
"I hope individual pharmaceutical manufacturers will seriously consider such a measure," Frist, Republican of Tennessee, said in a statement.
Bristol-Myers Squibb is the only drug company to say it will halt advertising for at least the first year drugs are sold, so that doctors will be able to learn about them without being pressured by patients for prescriptions.
Billy Tauzin, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America president, said antitrust regulations prevent the drug industry's lobbyists from ordering such a moratorium for its member companies. The code does call for drug makers to educate doctors about new drugs before launching ad campaigns.
"PhRMA cannot tell the company how long they can take. They have to make their own decisions," Tauzin said.
Makers of certain drugs will follow the lead of companies that sell distilled spirits, which air advertising only when at least 70 percent of those watching are adults. Erectile dysfunction drugs should take into account the age of the audience that watches the program and be shown when at least 80 percent of viewers are likely to be adults, Tauzin said.
Pfizer's vice chairman, Karen Katen, acknowledged the timing of such ads was a "flashpoint" and said the company's own policy would be even more stringent.
"We would not be on the Super Bowl," Katen said.
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Source: The Boston Globe
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