Prescription Drugs
Advertising Rules and Regulations
Why does the FDA regulate Drug Advertisements?
The FDA has to make sure that companies are giving you true information and giving you all information that they are legally bound to giving you. The FDA only oversees the advertisements of prescription drugs and not the ads for over the counter drugs.
What must ads tell you about their product.
- One approved use of the their product
- The Generic name of the drug
- All risks that come from taking the drug
What happens if an advertisement violates the law and is caught by the FDA?
- The FDA will send a letter to the company and ask that it be removed immediately
- They can ask that you fix the false or wrong statement posted in the ad made by the ad
- They can ask that you post an ad that corrects the previous one
- They can take companies to court and stop the supplies of the drug
What do they not have to tell you?
- Price
- If there is a generic version of the drug
- If there is a similar safer version of the drug
- If diet and exercise could increase efficacy of the drug
- The efficacy of the drug
- How the drug works