Where's That Spoonful of Sugar?

Share this

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist called drug ads "fuel to America's skyrocketing drug costs" and asked companies to wait two years before advertising new drugs. Bristol-Myers Squibb set its own one-year moratorium on new drug ads. Legislation with bipartisan support would create a new office within the Food and Drug Administration to "evaluate advertisements for new drugs and high-risk drugs and treatments." The American Medical Association is studying whether drug ads lead to "unnecessary prescriptions and higher health costs." All this has the pharmaceutical industry "scrambling to respond." The lobby group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is "drafting new guidelines." Drug ads should "include a greater discussion of the risks," admitted PhRMA vice-president Ken Johnson. But if restrictions are placed on drug ads, "you'll probably see maybe more public relations" targeted to doctors, predicted Ogilvy & Mather's Michael Guarini.