Ban Drug Ads on Television
I received an email from a colleague on a topic that I feel very strongly about. We are inundated with pharmaceutical ads on our TV everyday encouraging patients to “Ask your doctor about…”. With the recall of many drugs like Vioxx and Baycol, it is obvious that the FDA isn’t doing enough to fully research drugs before releasing them to the public.
The United States is the only country IN THE WORLD that allows pharmaceutical companies to advertise on television. We have 5% of the world’s population and take 75% of the world’s medications. The link below allows you to send an email to my member of Congress urging their support of a new bill that would ban advertising of new prescription drugs for three years.
While I feel it doesn’t do enough by completely banning all pharmaceutical ads, it is a start and allows time to address safety problems before the drugs become well known and patients are asking their doctors for the drug. The bill also would require a toll-free number on all TV drug ads so we can easily report serious side effects to the FDA. The more quickly the agency knows about dangerous side effects, the more quickly it can get unsafe medications off the market.
I hope you will take 30 seconds and participate.
