The Medical Freedom Channel

“Today, the American Medical Association (AMA) called for better government oversight of prescription drug advertisements directed at consumers to protect patients from misleading information. AMA President-elect Nancy Nielsen, M.D., shared the AMA’s concerns with some direct-to-consumer advertisements (DTCA) in testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. ‘Direct-to-consumer ads often portray drugs through rose-colored glasses by including more information about a drug’s benefits than risks,’ said Dr. Nielsen. ‘Imbalances in these ads can diminish patient understanding of certain drug risks, and increase the need for an ongoing dialogue between patients and physicians about the benefits and risks of prescription drugs.’” [editor’s note: A golden opportunity, if Dr. Neilsen is willing to push her colleagues toward self-restraint — resisting the urge to respond when a patient does “ask your doctor about …” — and even promote self-policing solutions (cf. the electrical industry’s Underwriters Laboratories?), there might be something of value here - SAT] (05/08/08)