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Collections under which this article appears: Regulation

BMJ 2002;325:1379 ( 14 December )

News

Congress criticises drugs industry for misleading advertising

Scott Gottlieb, New York

Some companies have disseminated misleading advertisements for prescription drugs, even after being cited for violations, a report issued by the US Congress says.

Congressional investigators, from the independent General Accounting Office, also said that drug advertising seemed to produce a major increase in the use of prescription drugs. The study estimated that at least 8.5 million Americans each year request and receive prescriptions for specific drugs after seeing or hearing advertisements for those products.

Among the drugs cited in the report for misleading advertisements were Flonase (fluticasone propionate), an allergy drug produced by A&H (Allen and Hanbury's), and Actonel (risedronate sodium), a drug for osteoporosis, made by Procter and Gamble.

Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who was one of five members of Congress who requested the study, said: "The evidence suggests that consumers are paying a lot of attention to these ads, so it's imperative that they be accurate. If the increase in utilisation is based on false claims, that's very troubling."

The report rejected a claim by critics of the pharmaceutical industry that drug companies spent more on advertising than on research and development. The report found that drug makers spent much more on research. Last year, it said, companies spent $30.3bn (£19.3bn; 30.1bn) on research and development and $19.1bn on all promotional activities, including $2.7bn for advertising aimed at consumers.

Typically, when the Food and Drug Administration finds that a drug advertisement is so inaccurate, misleading, or incomplete that it violates federal law and regulations, the agency writes a letter instructing the manufacturer to halt the advertisements.

From August 1997 to August 2002 the agency issued 88 letters accusing drug companies of advertising violations44 for broadcast advertisements, 35 for print advertisements, and nine that cited both types of advertisement.

In many cases, the agency said, companies overstated the effectiveness or minimised the risks of the drug.

© BMJ 2002

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misleading advertisements.

dr.manan vasenwala md,mrcp

bmj.com, 15 Dec 2002 [Full text]

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