FDA wants to know about ‘bad’ drug ads

A new FDA program seeks to educate health care professionals who prescribe medications about what constitutes appropriate prescription drug promotion and advertising, and asks physicians to report any misleading prescription drug advertising that they encounter.

The FDA will promote its “Bad Ad” new program at major medical conferences starting this month and will partner with medical societies to distribute educational materials, according to a press release.

The program is an FDA-sponsored educational outreach effort administered by the agency's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC), in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The FDA's traditional regulatory activities for monitoring prescription drug promotion primarily have relied on review of promotional pieces submitted to the agency by sponsoring drug companies, industry complaints, and field surveillance at large medical conventions.

Health care professionals are encouraged to report a potential violation in drug promotion by sending an email to badad@fda.gov or by calling 877-RX-DDMAC. Reports can be submitted anonymously; however, the FDA encourages clinicians to include contact information so that DDMAC officials can follow up, if necessary.