Saturday, August 20, 2011
An examination of nearly 200 advertisements by researchers found that the vast majority of those published in medical trade journals were not compliant with federal government rules governing the marketing of pharmaceuticals.
Of the 192 ads (including 83 full unique ads) for 82 products reviewed by medical university professors in New York and Connecticut, only 18% were compliant with all Food and Drug Administration guidelines. Almost half demonstrated at least one form of bias, and 33% were non-compliant due to incomplete information.
More than half the ads (57.8%) did not quantify serious risks needed for safe prescribing of the medications being marketed, and 48.2% lacked verifiable references.
Examples of the ads in question, which were intended to influence doctors, included one for a leukemia drug that did not mention data related to the effectiveness of similar generic drugs, and an ad for a drug for advanced lung cancer that misleadingly showed a healthy-looking man windsurfing.
-David Wallechinsky
Majority of Pharma Journal Ads Not FDA-Compliant: Study (by Lauren Folino, Medical Marketing & Media)
Adherence of Pharmaceutical Advertisements in Medical Journals to FDA Guidelines and Content for Safe Prescribing (by Deborah Korenstein, Salomeh Keyhani, Ali Mendelson and Joseph S. Ross, PLoS One)
Truthful Prescription Drug Advertising and Promotion (Bad Ad Program) (Food and Drug Administration)
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