FDA Cannot Keep Up With Drug Ads That Go Too Far
It is impossible to watch television nowadays and not see an advertisement for a prescription drug. Most of these commercials indicate relief that is unproven, exaggerate positive results, or fail to warn of serious side effects. The FDA monitors these ads, but with a woefully understaffed department and minimal budget. Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen sums the problem up in a recent article from USA Today:
The FDA has encouraged such conduct by handing down weak punishments that sought only to halt offending promotions and others like them. Sometimes the FDA did not act until the promotions had ceased.That's what happened with GlaxoSmithKline's antidepressant Paxil CR. Last June, the FDA cited its TV ad as misleading and asked that it be pulled — a month after it had stopped airing, Glaxo says.
There's no disincentive to running misleading advertising," says Wolfe. "Drugmakers know they'll be able to run ads for four, five months and get their message out. ... Then FDA says stop, and they stop and go on to something else that may be more misleading.