BIG PHARMA'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET
BY
KATHLEEN DEOUL
(XII of XII)

What is more important, though, is that it took on average six months from the time an ad campaign was initiated until some action was taken. This meant that a misleading ad could run for HALF A YEAR before anything was done about it. Even then the most likely action would be to ask the drug company to stop running the ad.

And that's just the average!

It took the FDA a full year to tell the giant Aventis pharmaceutical company to stop running misleading ads about its drug Taxotere.

But even when warning letters go out, they're hardly more than a slap on the wrist.

FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan has promised to make enforcement measures tougher, but only time will tell if he means what he says.

The good news is that the FDA Commissioner seems sincere in his promise, and now with studies such as those done in St. Louis and for JAMA, there is a growing body of evidence on which to base regulatory decisions. Still, it remains to be seen whether real change will take place, or whether Big Pharma will be able to use its influence to squash critics. Until the future is clear, consumers will have to rely on the old adage that holds "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."