Healthy Skepticism Library item: 7858

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

Burton B.
Political Mood Swings on Drug Industry Direct-to-Consumer Ads
Center for Media and Democracy 2007 Jan 22
http://www.prwatch.org/node/5663

Full text:

Source: Indianapolis Star, January 21, 2007
The $4 billion a year spent by the drug industry on direct-to-consumer advertising promoting drugs is generating a political backlash. “There’s a lot of support for a ban on direct-to-consumer advertising, and the Democrats know it,” said Gary Ruskin, Commercial Alert’s executive director. Both Representative John Dingell, the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Senator Edward Kennedy, the new chairman of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, have previously expressed concerns about drug industry advertising. One proposal – opposed by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry peak body – is that there be a two-year moratorium on ads after a drug is approved. Reflecting the new political mood, a forthcoming drug industry conference is advertising a session: “How likely is a DTC advertising moratorium? How can I build a product launch plan that will prepare for such action?”