FDA to closer scrutinize consumer drug advertisements

WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration’s current budget for reviewing consumer drug advertisements is larger this year than the previous five years combined, according to USA TODAY.

The FDA received $6.1 million for the current fiscal year to check the fairness and accuracy of consumer drug ads. That’s up from $2.2 million the previous year and $1 million the year before.

The FDA says it plans to hire more people so it can review more ads. It has 13 workers devoted to policing direct-to-consumer ad materials, six of which are primary reviewers. Last year, the FDA received 12,616 drug ad materials.

The FDA has been so overwhelmed by drug industry ad materials that only a “small portion” is reviewed, the Government Accountability Office said in a 2006 report. The FDA often didn’t declare consumer ads false or misleading until after ad campaigns were over, the GAO said.

President Bush’s proposed 2009 budget calls for $14 million from user fees to fund 27 FDA positions devoted to the consumer-ad-review program. In exchange, the FDA would review TV drug ads within 45 days of getting them from drugmakers — which is faster than many reviews occur now — and before the ads are seen by millions of viewers.