Colmnist Questions Whether DTC Drug Ads Should Air

Although new FDA Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan said he plans to create new standards for direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements and increase enforcement, "many ... who have to answer patients' questions every day wonder whether these commercials should be on the air at all," Dr. Erin Marcus, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Miami Medical School, writes in a New York Times opinion piece. She cites a recent General Accounting Office report that found that at least 8.5 million U.S. residents each year request and obtain prescriptions for medicines they heard about through a television or radio ad (Marcus, New York Times, 1/3). The report, which used data from the pharmaceutical industry, attributed the problem to a Bush administration revision to a federal rule that sets the standard of accuracy for direct-to-consumer prescription drug ads. The report said that the revision, which has delayed the time required to issue a notice of violation from two weeks to 11 weeks to allow government attorneys to review the notices, has "adversely affected" the ability of the FDA to address "deceptive" prescription drug ads (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 12/4/02). Noting that pharmaceutical companies are increasingly using celebrities such as Patti LaBelle and Dorothy Hamill to promote certain medications, Marcus concludes, "Medicines are not like shampoo or perfume. They're things people need to maintain health, not discretionary products a person can use or throw away on a whim. I'm all for educating patients so they can make informed decisions about treatment. But these ads aren't educational tools, they're sales pitches -- and as hard as we doctors try, it's tough to compete with" celebrity endorsements (New York Times, 1/3).