Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) called on pharmaceutical marketers to restrict their direct-to-consumer advertising for new drugs.
Frist, a medical doctor, urged companies to voluntarily hold back for two years on advertising new medications. He also called for a review by the General Accounting Office on The Food and Drug Administration’s effectiveness in overseeing pharmaceutical marketing. “In recent years, spending on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs has skyrocketed,” Frist said Friday in a statement. “This advertising can lead to inappropriate prescribing and fuel prescription drug spending.”
Frist also argued that D-to-C advertising can “oversell benefits and undersell risks.” He added that “this blitz in direct marketing has unwittingly led to inappropriate prescribing, which most importantly can compromise patient safety and care.”
