• Ad Age, Wednesday, March 21, 2007 2:13 PM

The $4.5 billion direct-to-consumer drug ad business is drawing more scrutiny on Capitol Hill as a new bill in the House of Representatives would allow the Food and Drug Administration to ban new-drug ads for up to three years. The proposal comes as the industry faces legislation in the Senate that could sharply curb DTC advertising for prescription drugs. That move would allow the FDA to ban drug ads for two years.

But besides adding a year to any new-drug ad bans, the House bill requires packaging thatlets consumers know a drug is new to the marketplace. Both bills mandate pre-clearance of drug ads by the FDA. Jim Davison, a lobbyist for ad groups, says he fears regulators could impose a blanket ban for all new drugs so as not to appear to be playing favorites.

"If a two-year moratorium is bad idea, a three-year [moratorium] is worse," he says. "What is the government's interest in grabbing away truthful and non-misleading advertising? If we believe that information helps consumers and helps them to do positive things, then how do we justify taking information away from them?"

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