• Ad Age, Tuesday, April 7, 2009 11:15 AM

The FDA has issued letters to 14 major pharmaceutical companies instructing them to stop what it calls "misleading" and "misbranded" advertising on search engines such as Google and Yahoo, Marissa Miley reports. The changes required include disassociating a branded drug from the condition it seeks to treat in the search ad's headline, description lines and even URL name.

The letters from the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications are so-called preemptive untitled letters, requesting an immediate end to the ads and a written response from the companies by Thursday.

Mark Senak, senior VP at Fleishman Hillard and author of the blog Eye on FDA, is among those who feel that the agency's approach is faulty. "Formulating policy by issuing mass warning letters is not a valid way to set that policy or express it," he says.

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