A leading advocacy group petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines, a move that comes as the Trump administration leans on drugmakers to provide more balanced information in their ads.
In arguing its case, Public Citizen maintained that director-to-consumer, or DTC, ads often “mislead consumers because they are designed to persuade rather than to inform or educate patients.” The ads sometimes “employ emotional manipulation techniques or visual distractions to highlight information about benefits” while minimizing risks.
The advocacy group hopes to persuade the FDA after the Trump administration last September announced a “crackdown” on what it called deceptive drug advertising. At the time, the administration disclosed plans for new rules and stronger enforcement, which was followed by dozens of letters sent to companies regarding problems with their ads.
