Tell the FDA: Keep Protecting Us from Unsafe Drug Marketing

You can't turn on a television today without seeing a steady barrage of drug ads. In fact, each of us sees an average of 100 minutes of these ads for every one minute we spend in the doctor's office.

Thankfully, current rules from the Food and Drug Administration mean the drugs and medical devices we see in the ads are safe and effective so long as they are used for their marketed purpose.

Today, it's against the law for companies to promote untested and unverified uses of drugs. For example, a drug company can't market an antidepressant as a diet drug unless the FDA has reviewed it and determined it is safe and effective for losing weight.

But all this could change – soon. The FDA is considering lifting the ban on drug ads for treatments that have not been tested and approved by regulators. This dangerous move could expose patients to risky, ineffective, or unsafe treatments.

In a new Consumer Reports survey, we found that 84 percent of Americans are opposed to allowing advertising of drugs for treatments not approved by the FDA. But big drug companies want nothing more than to see the ban lifted, and are pushing on federal regulators to loosen the rules. For them, lax advertising restrictions mean more prescriptions and higher corporate profits.

We are standing with consumers and saying that the FDA should hold the line when it comes to drug advertising for unapproved uses of drugs.