Make sure you see the onslide slideshow accompanying this article about how the FDA is cracking down on drug companies for ads that underplay serious risks.
The slideshow gives you details on the ad or promotional campaign behind the drug and includes copies of the warning letters the FDA sent to the companies responsible for the false promotions. The FDA slaps are for things like omitting or minimizing side effects, implying that the drug could be used for something for which it hasn’t been approved, or exaggerating effectiveness claims.
The ten products promoted in the ads are these:
Latisse eyelash thickening drug – starring actress Brooke Shields
Cymbalta – depression and pain drug
Treximent – migraine
hormone-releasing IUD Mirena
Depakote ER for bipolar disorder
Ertaczo – cream for foot fungus
Fosrenol – kidney failure drug
Visipaque – used in heart imaging procedures.
Dacogen – for certain rare blood cell disorders and blood cancers.
Kaletra – HIV drug – with ads featuring former NBA star Magic Johnson
Excerpt from the article:
“It’s almost impossible for the public to actually parse the ads and come to their own independent conclusions,” says Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Steven Nissen, a fierce critic of drug ads.
But Nissen is suspicious of most drugs that are advertised because he thinks that the marketing campaigns distract and mislead consumers. His advice: avoid the most heavily advertised drugs and stick to generics.
How can you avoid getting misled by drug ads? One way is to skip over the glowing patient testimonials and seek hard data about the medication’s risks and how it performed in clinical trials. Every drug Web site also includes a link to the drug’s official FDA label (the link usually says something like “Full Prescribing Information.”) It’s heavy reading, and many doctors don’t even bother to do it. But it will have definitive, unvarnished information on how effective the drug was in its clinical trials and exactly what all the side effects were.
Great piece. Terrific online slideshow. I don’t know how they limited themselves to just ten misleading drug ads.
NOMNATED FOR 2009 BEST MEDICAL BLOG
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Come on, NY Times; you must do better than this. Important research doesn’t need hype and the “breaking news” BS doesn’t help readers or patients. https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2022/03/nyt-proclaims-breaking-news/
Our editorial team was blessed to have Sharon as a contributor during our best years. As this obit states, she was “kind, patient, wise, thoughtful and generous.” Thank you, Sharon; now rest in peace. https://journalism.wisc.edu/news/in-memoriam-sharon-dunwoody-1947-2022/
We’ve written about the hype of liquid biopsies for years (see link in comment below). And now this…. https://www.statnews.com/2022/01/12/medicare-shouldnt-cover-liquid-biopsies-early-cancer-detection/
Comments (2)
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Paul Scott
February 4, 2010 at 11:10 amIt’s an even braver story once you consider that ads like these are bread and butter for large consumer magazines like Forbes.
Our Comments Policy
But before leaving a comment, please review these notes about our policy.
You are responsible for any comments you leave on this site.
This site is primarily a forum for discussion about the quality (or lack thereof) in journalism or other media messages (advertising, marketing, public relations, medical journals, etc.) It is not intended to be a forum for definitive discussions about medicine or science.
We will delete comments that include personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unverified claims, product pitches, profanity or any from anyone who does not list a full name and a functioning email address. We will also end any thread of repetitive comments. We don”t give medical advice so we won”t respond to questions asking for it.
We don”t have sufficient staffing to contact each commenter who left such a message. If you have a question about why your comment was edited or removed, you can email us at feedback@healthnewsreview.org.
There has been a recent burst of attention to troubles with many comments left on science and science news/communication websites. Read “Online science comments: trolls, trash and treasure.”
The authors of the Retraction Watch comments policy urge commenters:
We”re also concerned about anonymous comments. We ask that all commenters leave their full name and provide an actual email address in case we feel we need to contact them. We may delete any comment left by someone who does not leave their name and a legitimate email address.
And, as noted, product pitches of any sort – pushing treatments, tests, products, procedures, physicians, medical centers, books, websites – are likely to be deleted. We don”t accept advertising on this site and are not going to give it away free.
The ability to leave comments expires after a certain period of time. So you may find that you’re unable to leave a comment on an article that is more than a few months old.
You might also like