Celebrity Shills for Pills and Other DTC Concerns

The Food and Drug Administration will hold a public hearing on direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising, "more than two years after the last public hearing ... failed to produce any guidelines to regulate the $4 billion ad category," notes AdAge. In announcing the November 1 and 2 meeting in Washington, DC, the FDA said it "believes the agency, the industry and other members of the public now have enough experience with DTC promotion to understand what regulatory issues may need to be addressed." Of particular interest are celebrity endorsements, since "such approaches plainly do not reflect a data-oriented approach to promotion." The agency will also ask "whether and how techniques mislead consumers about the risk-benefit tradeoffs" of advertised drugs. In August, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America established their own voluntary DTC guidelines. A PhRMA spokesperson said the industry group will speak at the FDA hearing.