The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is finally showing hints of moving in the right direction when it comes to protecting the public from harmful drugs. In fact, the agency is touting the "stop misleading the public; tell the truth" commandment more often when it spots misleading advertisements for prescription drugs.

Yet despite the FDA's progress, several lawmakers, consumer advocates and former FDA officials argue the agency still needs to go that extra mile if it hopes to effectively police drug marketing.

Step it Up!

For starters, it comes down to the numbers: The agency's drug-marketing enforcement office -- responsible for monitoring more than 30,000 print and broadcast ads, sales brochures to doctors and company Web sites -- employs a staff of only 40 professionals.

And, while the FDA cited 13 drug pitches this year that disobeyed the marketing rules, the pace of enforcement is lagging behind the historical level; in 2000 the agency cited a whopping 79 pitches.

Some of the drugs that have attracted the most citations from the FDA include:

• Vioxx
• Lipitor
• Claritin
• Celebrex

What does the FDA have to say for its actions ... or lack thereof? The agency is aware its numbers have fallen, but claims it's biting down hard on the campaigns it does cite. But is that really the case?

Too Little, Too Late

For one thing, drug makers have certainly learned to push the edge of the envelope. FDA enforcement records reveal drug makers have:

• Buried risk information with moviemaking skill.
• "Stretched the truth" about competing products.
• Misled patients suffering from cancer and toenail infections alike.
• Pitched antidepressants to people who the FDA said didn't need them.

But, according to the director of Public Citizen's health research group, the FDA only encourages bad behavior by handing out weak punishments; at times the FDA didn't act until after the fouled promotions ceased.

Worse, the FDA has been branded with the inability to possess the power to fine companies for misleading promotions and instead relies on two kinds of letters to do the job: The first letter is a less serious one, equivalent to a slap on the wrist; the second letter, however, stops offending pitches and requests corrective action.

Bottom line: The FDA needs to come down harder on offenders to get out the message that violations lead to expensive consequences and will not be tolerated.

USA Today May 31, 2005

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Each year an estimated $4 billion is spent by the pharmaceutical industry on direct-to-consumer advertising. It is important to realize, though, that these major corporations are not stupid. They employ some of the finest marketers in the country who completely understand the business of marketing. They are not going to make such a significant investment unless there is a great return. The last time I looked, drug companies weren't in the business of subsidizing TV stations as charities. No, they advertise because it works. For instance, one recent study showed that patients were five times more likely to receive Paxil from their doctor if they mentioned seeing an ad about it during an office visit. The combination of the FDA's lack of manpower and their malleable enforcement activities with the pharmaceutical industry's powerful influence over the government and the media, leads to a situation that quite simply is not in your favor at all. Excluding some intrepid FDA professionals, like Dr. David Graham, most FDA officials do not take a position that is consistent with their mandate of protecting your health. More recently it has been all about protecting the profits of the drug companies. I am writing a book that is scheduled to be released this fall. It will detail many of the abuses of the FDA and put it into a helpful historical perspective. Bottom line, though, is you are best served by not relying on the FDA to protect you from the drug companies. Folks, you are on your own. You can use resources like this site and the search engine to access all of my previous free content. You can also use Google to carefully review the evidence before you rely on the drug companies as the solution for your health challenge. Related Articles: Why is the Government Protecting the Drug Companies? Can You Trust the FDA? No More Celebrex Ads: FDA Orders Them Off the Air