Is There a (Sur)real Drug Ad Out There?

Letter to Ephesians: Are you also ready to puke while watching pharma TV ads hawking obscure disease drugs with warnings about nausea, vomiting & suicidal thoughts? Wonder why it took so long for FDA to “take aim at the surreal world of TV drug ads?”

The WSJ coverage insists “the agency’s crackdown represents a significant rise in scrutiny of pharmaceutical ads.” Really? Never mind the obvious that those “surreal” ads showing “people with terrible diseases [who] tend to be young, beautiful & living life to the fullest – sometimes with animated monsters – has been parodied on late night sketch comedy shows.” We’ll believe the FDA crackdown talk when we actually see it, after President Trump issued a directive to do just that. According to the paper, the agency last week did issue letters to drugmakers “citing misleading storytelling with embellished scenes of picture-perfect health.” The companies were told to “cease and desist airing [such] misleading ads, which violate federal law around the marketing of prescription drugs.” And yet, you can count on pharma’s usual rope-a-dope response.

Now, of course, like all federal agencies, the FDA has to follow the strict parameters of the laws enacted by Congress & the President’s signature, which takes TIME. But, meanwhile, these goofy claims (and, btw, often LOUSY cure or palliative rates) suck more & more desperately sick folks (and/or their insurance companies) into shelling out more & more. So, maybe don’t just crackdown on the ads, but the potential fraudulent claims behind them as well.

Davd Soul