What makes us different? Read our Declaration of Journalistic Independence Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News
Search our 25,000 free articles and special reports

39 Health & Seniors Groups Call on Congress to End to DTC Prescription Drug Ads (press release)

Monday, July 24, 2006 by: NaturalNews | Key concepts: prescription drug, drug ads and advertising

Want stories like this e-mailed to you? Click here for free email alerts

Email this article to a friend Printable Version
Thirty-nine medical, health and seniors’ organizations are urging Congress to stop the advertising of prescription drugs to consumers, Commercial Alert and the National Women’s Health Network announced today.

“Prescription drug ads are dishonest and dangerous,” said Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert. “They hype the benefits and cloak the risks of prescription drugs.”

As Robert A. Schoellhorn, former chairman of Abbott Laboratories warned more than two decades ago, “We believe direct advertising to the consumer introduces a very real possibility of causing harm to patients who may respond to advertisements by pressuring physicians to prescribe medications that may not be required.”

“We agree. We would add that the possibility of creating another Vioxx catastrophe has only grown since then,” Ruskin said.

Amy Allina, program director of the National Women’s Health Network, points out that history has proved regulation of direct-to-consumer ads to be inadequate to protect consumers. “The ad campaigns promoting hormone therapy to women at menopause were a triumph of marketing over science. Drug companies ducked and weaved around the regulations for truth in advertising, touting unproven benefits for their menopause drugs which exposed millions of women to breast cancer and heart disease risks with little or no benefit to many.”

The groups are now seeking Members of Congress to introduce legislation in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to stop direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug ads.

The following organizations have endorsed the Public Health Protection Act, which would end DTC prescription drug advertising, and are asking Congress to enact it: Action Alliance of Senior Citizens of Greater Philadelphia, Action Coalition for Media Education, Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, Alliance for Human Research Protection, American Medical Student Association, Breast Cancer Action, California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, Center for a New American Dream, Center for Justice & Democracy, Commercial Alert, Congress of California Seniors, Connecticut Alliance for Retired Americans, Connecticut Citizen Action Group, Consumer Project on Technology, DES Action USA, Essential Action, Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, Florida CHAIN, Government Accountability Project, Gray Panthers, Health Care For All, Healthcare-NOW, Health Education AIDS Liaison-NYC (HEAL), Just Health Care, Justice in Michigan, Maine Council of Senior Citizens-Alliance for Retired Americans (MCSC-ARA), Maryland NOW, Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, Massachusetts Senior Action Council, Minnesota COACT, Missouri Chapter – American College of Physicians, National Women’s Health Network, Nevada Alliance for Retired Americans, New View Campaign for Women’s Sexual Problems (FSD-Alert.org), Obligation Inc., Pennsylvanians United for Reform in Health Care (PURe-HC), Pennsylvanians United for Single Payer Healthcare (PUSH), People Against Cancer, Physicians for a National Health Program, Prescription Access Litigation Project and the Women’s Health Institute.

###

Related Articles

The great direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising con: how patients and doctors alike are easily influenced to demand dangerous drugs

If prescription drugs are so good, where are all the healthy drug takers?

Big Pharma scare tactics: How the pharmaceutical industry influences American consumers

28 Senators vote to maintain Big Pharma monopoly over U.S. consumers; Republicans oppose free trade for medicine

Big Tobacco and Big Pharma: same tactics, different chemicals

Additional Resources:

prescription drug
drug ads
advertising

Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com

Email this article to a friend

Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us

Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/019732.html

Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.

Receive our Natural Health Newsletter for FREE

Subscribe now (it's free!) to win. We randomly choose a subscriber each month to send $100 in eco-home products or a RealGoods.com gift certificate (our choice). Plus, you'll receive FREE news, articles and action alerts from NaturalNews.com editors and join over 800,000 monthly readers who report extraordinary health improvements after becoming a subscriber!
  • Receive breaking news alerts on natural health solutions, renewable energy, the environment, global warming and more.
  • Receive a free instant download of our $29 Secret Sources guide that reveals top sources for little-known health and diet solutions.
Your Email Address:
Free Subscription Code:
Enter the numbers you see:
100% free of charge. Unsubscribe anytime.
Absolutely no spam. We respect your email privacy.

Recommended Special Report:

Seven Words that can Change the World
by Joseph R. Simonetta

Read this special report now...

"Seven Words That Can Change the World reveals the astonishing, simple truths that have the power to forever transform our world for the better while freeing our minds from the enslavement of limiting beliefs. This is not a text for the simple-minded; it is a guiding philosophy for the mindful, intelligent few who are wise enough to seek out -- and recognize -- the higher simplicities of truly purposeful living." - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, editor of NaturalNews.com

More on NaturalNews.com:

Streaming Health Ranger Videos
CounterThink Cartoons
FREE Special Reports
Podcasts

Also Posted Today

The Politics of National Health Care Reform: Why no Popular Presidential Candidate can Solve Our Health Care Crisis (transcript)

Big Pharma "Doomed" if it Doesn't Change, Says Eli Lilly Chairman

The Poisoning of America's Water Supplies

Rickets on the Rise as Vitamin D Deficiency Surges Among Expectant Mothers

The Many Benefits of Coconut Oil and Coconut Butter

Beat Disease With Juice Feasting!

NEW 6-CD audio set reveals amazing new protocol for reversing cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease and more. Click to learn more.

Own Health Ranger Report Podcasts on Audio CD

Own the first 8 Health Ranger Report audio programs on 6 CDs. Covers weight loss, ADHD, vaccinations, processed meats, bone health and more. Click to learn more.

Featured Videos

Short clip on Aspartame
A short clip on aspartame from the documentary All Jacked Up.
Click here to view now...

Exclusive video on Aspartame
The dangers of aspartame! Exclusive interview footage from Cori Brackett of Sweet Remedy.
Click here to view now...

Exclusive Footage from All Jacked Up!
See interview footage featuring the Health Ranger in the upcoming junk food film, All Jacked Up.
Click here to view now...

Drug Ad Parody
See the Health Ranger's satire parody of Merck's cholesterol drug ad.
Click here to view now...

Free Health Reports!

Amazon Herb Company review
The pH Nutrition Guide to Acid / Alkaline Balance
Pet Food Ingredients Revealed! (shocking)
Medicine From Fish
The Water Cure
The Healing Power of Sunlight and Vitamin D

Featured CounterThink Cartoons

When doctors have nightmares


When pharmacists tell the truth


Medical Quackery


Health Product Companies We Recommend

Read recommendations on supplement companies, health food manufacturers and personal care product makers that you can trust. Our 100% independent review list tells you who to trust and who to avoid in the natural health industry. Click to read.
This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2008 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. Truth Publishing sells no health or nutritional products and earns no money from health product manufacturers or promoters. 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.