Members of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives are continuing their scrutiny of direct-to-consumer marketing of prescription drugs. The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee recently contacted major pharmaceutical firms asking them to institute a new set of guidelines for such marketing.
Among other requests, the Subcommittee asked the firms to impose a 2-year moratorium on the advertising of new drugs and urged them to pre-clear all ads.
In Senate action, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held hearings at the end of September to discuss the marketing of medical devices. The hearing was titled "Marketing or Medicine: Are Direct-to-Consumer Medical Device Ads Playing Doctor?” and contained testimony suggesting that the Food and Drug Administration move to tighten its oversight of medical marketing.
No formal legislation is expected in either the House or the Senate in 2008, due to a shortened legislative year driven by the November elections. However, a high-ranking Democratic leader in the House of Representatives recently told marketers that they could expect strong action on the issue in 2009.
The AAAA has increased efforts to educate Members of Congress about the beneficial educational role paid by DTC drug ads. Most recently, a broad coalition of marketers and manufacturers have begun a new program of grassroots meetings with Senators and their Congressmen in their home districts. CEOs of a number of AAAA member agencies have participated in the meetings during the last two months.
For more information about AAAA actions and policy concerning DTC marketing, contact Dick O’Brien in the AAAA Washington office.
