| Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News | Media Information | Advertise with Natural News | ||||
![]() |
![]() |
|||
|
||||
|
|
The statements endorsers include prominent medical school professors from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Stanford, Yale, Duke, University of California, San Francisco and other top medical schools, along with two former editors-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. Commercial Alert wrote and organized the statement, and released it today. Next week, Commercial Alert will present the statement to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in testimony at the FDA’s hearings on direct-to-consumer drug advertising. The statement follows. Statement on Direct-to-Consumer Marketing of Prescription Drugs Direct-to-consumer marketing of prescription drugs should be prohibited. In 2004, pharmaceutical companies spent more than $4 billion in an onslaught of advertising to promote prescription drugs. This advertising does not promote public health. It increases the cost of drugs and the number of unnecessary prescriptions, which is expensive to taxpayers, and can be harmful or deadly to patients. For more than half a century, certain drugs have been available to patients only with a prescription, because all drugs, including those that can heal, can also cause harm. Doctors, nurses and other health professionals have the necessary training and experience to help them decide whether drugs are indicated in particular cases. This is why they make the prescription decision, not patients. Prescription drug advertising pressures health professionals to prescribe particular medications, and often the ones that may be less effective and more expensive and dangerous. This intrudes in the relationship between medical professionals and patients, and disrupts the therapeutic process. It takes up valuable time to explain to patients why they may have been misled by the drug advertisements they have seen. Prescription drug advertising is not educational. It is inherently misleading because it features emotive imagery and omits crucial information about drugs and their proper use, as well as about side effects and contraindications that can be found on the full FDA-approved label. Drug companies have an inherent and irredeemable financial conflict-of-interest which drives them to exaggerate the positive and minimize the negative qualities of their own products. At a minimum, direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising should not existunless accompanied by the full FDA-approved label. Nor should drug ads be allowed to display imagery that is primarily emotive and not educational. Drug ads on TV and radio should be prohibited because they cannot meet this standard for truthfulness. Related CounterThink Cartoons:
|
![]() 8 Weeks to Vibrant HealthLearn why this is the must-read guide to women's health you've been waiting for... Click here...
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
| What is this? |
Recommended Products Related to This Article*:Free download: Selling Sickness (summary)Read the best book on disease mongering for learning the truth about Big Pharma How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days☯ Health Ranger guide to reversing diabetes for reversing type-2 diabetes Revealed: Natural Health Solutions (free) Free summary of book by Mike Adams for learning censored natural health remedies The Weiss Method for Heart Disease☯ How to reverse heart disease naturally for heart disease, high cholesterol Additional Products of Interest to AllKatadyn Exstream XR Water Purifier☯#1 personal water purifier for clean, pristine water in seconds Preparedness Tools Natural News Bundle☯ For preparedness and safety: 60% off for preparing for natural disasters Exposed! The Toxic Chemistry of Products Free summary of this shocking book for learning the truth about toxic products Appetite for Profit (free download) Free download summary of this top book for discovering the truth about food companies The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton A free download of Biology of Belief for learning about the mind-biology connection The Genie In Your Genes by Dawson Church A free, downloadable summary of this book for learning about the biology of intention Katadyn MicroPur Water Purifier Tablets☯ The best water purification tablets for purifying almost any water source * Products do NOT pay to be listed here. These are genuine, independent recommendations by the Health Ranger ☯ Products with this symbol are sold by NaturalNews or its affiliates and earn revenues for NaturalNews |
Also on NaturalNews:• Streaming Health Ranger Videos• CounterThink Cartoons • FREE Special Reports • Podcasts |
Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News | Media Information | Advertise with Natural News This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2009 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners. |
![]() |