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Previous Volume 358:1727-1732 April 17, 2008 Number 16 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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In mid-February, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a change in its rules governing pharmaceutical promotion that would widen the ability of drug manufacturers to distribute information on unapproved uses of their products.¹ This proposal has rekindled the debate over the rights of drug makers to promote their medications to physicians.

Studies have highlighted the substantial effect of promotional statements on the prescribing behavior of physicians, and litigation has revealed that some manufacturers have depicted the risks and benefits of their products inaccurately.² A growing number of states are working to curb inappropriate pharmaceutical promotion by restricting electronic marketing . . . [Full Text of this Article]

The First Amendment and Commercial Speech

Judicial Perspectives on Regulation of Pharmaceutical Promotion

The Role of Promotion in Prescription Drug Safety

The Future of Pharmaceutical Promotion as Commercial Speech

Conclusions

Source Information

From the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Dresser, R., Frader, J. (2009). Off-label prescribing: a call for heightened professional and government oversight.. J Law Med Ethics 37: 476-486  
• Avorn, J., Shrank, W. H. (2009). Communicating Drug Benefits and Risks Effectively: There Must Be a Better Way. ANN INTERN MED 150: 563-564 [Full Text]  
• Mello, M. M., Studdert, D. M., Brennan, T. A. (2009). Shifting Terrain in the Regulation of Off-Label Promotion of Pharmaceuticals. NEJM 360: 1557-1566 [Full Text]  
• Troy, D. E., Gottlieb, S., Kesselheim, A. S., Avorn, J. (2008). Pharmaceutical Promotion and First Amendment Rights. NEJM 359: 536-537 [Full Text]