AstraZeneca has told the Food and Drug Administration at a two day "public hearing" that it would support legislation requiring drug manufacturers to submit all prescription drug ads to the FDA for review prior to public dissemination.
Big Pharma spent more than $4 billion on DTC ads last year.
"If our collective goal is to ensure that accurate and responsible information is communicated to patients and healthcare providers, then manufacturers, patients, physicians and policy makers ought to welcome such a review process," said AstraZeneca's senior vice president of commercial operations Tony Zook.
This is a clever move by Big Pharma as it seeks to ward off the greater threat of heavier handed government regulation. Better for them to tie up the FDA by having them look at Big Pharmas' ads than have them questioning the science, the medical need and, above all, the safety of the products they want to push!
Insider says: The FDA should have more people. These should be top class scientists and medics, not copy approvers.
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