Lawmakers Call On Companies to Curb Dug Ads

Drug Companies including Pfizer, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson have agreed not to advertise newly approved drugs for their first six months. Key members of congress say this is not enough and want a two year wait. This will not only hurt pharmaceutical and advertising interests but it is bad for consumers as well.

The FDA is poorly managed and overly risk averse, resulting in skyrocketing drug development costs and fewer approvals.  Congressional oversight, increasingly negatively disposed toward the pharmaceutical industry, is a stimulus to this trend.