WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) -
U.S. regulators have sharply cut the number of warnings sent to drugmakers for false or
misleading advertising, a U.S. lawmaker said Tuesday.
The Food and Drug Administration, which monitors drug
promotions, issued between January 1999 and December 2001 more
than 250 letters to companies about problems in their ads,
according to Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat.
From December 2001 through September 1, 2002, the agency
sent only 19 such letters, a 70 percent drop.
"It appears that FDA is now granting major drug
manufacturers virtually a free pass," Waxman wrote in a letter
to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.
The FDA has cited companies for failing to adequately warn
about potentially serious side effects, making false
effectiveness claims and promoting drugs for unapproved uses.
Waxman said the decline in FDA enforcement actions "may be
a welcome development for the drug industry, but it poses
serious dangers to public health."
"I urge you to direct FDA to reverse course and resume
effective enforcement" of prohibitions against false and
misleading ads, Waxman wrote to Thompson.
Drug companies must submit copies of ads to the FDA for
review at the same time they circulate them, and the quantity
is rising. The number of television and radio ads aimed at
consumers and submitted to the FDA jumped by 75 percent in
2002 compared to 1999-2001, Waxman said.
The decline in FDA advertising warnings came after a
requirement imposed in November 2001 that the FDA's Office of
Chief Counsel review all warning letters, Waxman said.
The FDA's chief counsel, Daniel Troy, previously
represented the drug industry in cases challenging the FDA's
authority to regulate advertising, Waxman said.
Officials at the FDA and HHS were not immediately available
for comment. |
