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Previous Volume 352:325-328 January 27, 2005 Number 4 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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Merck's withdrawal of rofecoxib from the market last September and Pfizer's announcement in December of possible cardiac risks associated with high doses of celecoxib reignited long-simmering controversies regarding drug promotion, in part because both cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors have been heavily marketed directly to consumers. Indeed, after discussion with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Pfizer suspended all direct-to-consumer advertising of celecoxib. Adding fuel to the fire is class-action litigation filed against AstraZeneca alleging that its direct-to-consumer advertising misrepresents the superiority of its proton-pump inhibitor esomeprazole over less expensive alternatives.

Although the information made public in these cases is probably incomplete, these . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Dr. Berndt is a professor of applied economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.

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