Healthy Skepticism Library item: 12658

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Consumers Union to FDA: Put 800-Number, Web Site on TV Drug Ads
Therapeutics Daily 2008 Feb 1
http://www.therapeuticsdaily.com/news/article.cfm?contentValue=1705645&contentType=sentryarticle&channelID=33

Full text:

Consumers Union hopes to collect 50,000 signatures for a petition asking FDA to require that all television ads for prescription and over-the-counter drugs include a toll-free number and Web address so the public can report adverse events. The recently enacted FDA Amendments Act requires all print advertisements to list toll-free phone numbers and Web addresses for reporting side effects, but does not require TV ads to do likewise.

The FDA law does, however, require FDA to study whether TV ads should list toll-free numbers.

Nancy Ostrove, a senior advisor for risk communication in the FDA commissioner’s office, said at …