FDA: Llamadas de atención surten efecto...

RESTON, VA, October 1, 2009 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the results of a study of changes in search engine marketing in the pharmaceutical industry as a result of the FDA warning letters distributed in March 2009. Using comScore data, the study found that sponsored link exposures to U.S. Internet users declined more than 50 percent immediately after the FDA warning letters were issued to pharmaceutical manufacturers concerning the exclusion of fair balance language in sponsored link advertising.
On March 26, 2009, the Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent warning letters to 14 major pharmaceutical manufacturers identifying specific brands as being in violation of FDA fair balance guidelines. The letters stated that sponsored link advertisements for specific drugs were misleading due to the exclusion of risk information associated with the use of the drug. (Ver...)

Esto fué lo que pasó entonces...

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report

Prescription Drugs | FDA Warns 14 Pharmaceutical Companies About Short Internet Ads That Do Not Contain Risk Information

[Apr 06, 2009]
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One letter, dated March 26, was sent to Biogen Idec concerning an ad for its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri that lacked risk information.

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Sanofi-Aventis also received a letter citing ads for its anti-clotting drug Plavix, the world's second-leading drug in terms of sales. According to the letter, "The sponsored links misleadingly suggest Plavix is safer than has been demonstrated."

Other companies receiving letters include Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Forest Laboratories, Cephalon, Bayer, Novartis, Merck, Eli Lilly, Roche Holding, Genentech and Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, which recently was acquired by Roche. FDA has not contacted search engines where the ads appeared because its policy is not to contact third parties that carry drug ads, even if they violate agency rules, Chappelle said (Favole, Wall Street Journal, 4/4). (Ver...)

The letters are available online.