There are rumors that Franken and co-sponsors Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) may offer the legislation as an amendment when the full Senate considers the health-care reform legislation bill, Rich Thomaselli reports. If so, that would seem to jeopardize a handshake deal that pharmaceutical executives have with the Obama administration.

"What this endangers is the public health, as every survey -- including those done by the FDA -- show that DTC advertising, beyond helping to sell product, actually increases the health literacy of the American health consumer," says former FDA associate commissioner Peter Pitts, who is now president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.

Meanwhile, Drug Store News's Jim Frederick reports the National Association of Chain Drug Stores strongly opposes a proposal in Congress to allow Americans to personally import prescription drugs.

"We do not believe that consumer safety can be ensured in any system that allows for the personal importation of prescription medications," NACDS president and CEO Steven Anderson wrote in a letter yesterday to Senate leaders.