Gov't pushes for greater power over pharma ads; Legislation would allow FDA to halt campaigns and sales in $4B category.

Advertising Age, May, 2006 by Thomaselli, Rich

Byline: RICH THOMASELLI

A congressional push to allow the Food and Drug Administration to mandate studies ensuring the safety of prescription drugs after they reach the market could hand the agency greater control over the $4.1 billion direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical-advertising category.

The FDA would be able to demand further clinical studies even years after a drug receives approval, enabling it to pull a drug off the market if pharmaceutical companies fail to comply, suspend multimillion-dollar ad campaigns and halt sales of blockbuster drugs-an unsettling development to drug marketers. The FDA did not return a call for comment by press time.

The push comes in the wake of a scathing report last month from the Government Accountability...

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