Drug Plan a Placebo

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Consumer groups are blasting the pharmaceutical industry's new plan to self-police its drug ads. At Commercial Alert, Gary Ruskin says the new "guiding principles" released by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is "are utterly lacking in principle. They are a public relations exercise that cloaks doing nothing in a stream of verbiage that sounds like doing something. They will cause no inconvenience for the drug industry and no real change of behavior. Their aim is to shield the profits of the drug companies, not the health of Americans. Nor will they stop the fleecing of taxpayers, through excess demand for prescription drugs. ... The new PhRMA policy is even soft on erectile dysfunction ads. Parents shouldn’t have to shield their children from raunchy drug ads." Consumers Union called the plan "a placebo that will have little impact on informing consumers about the real effectiveness of drugs or their possible safety risks."