US FDA stepping up enforcement of pharma ad rules, sends letters to companies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will send out around 100 cease-and-desist enforcement notices and thousands of letters warning pharmaceutical companies that direct-to-consumer ads must comply with regulations that are already on the books, senior administration officials said on Tuesday.
The FDA plans to enforce regulations stipulating that drug ads cannot create a misleading impression about the products and need to appropriately disclose side effects, the officials said.
“There are ads that are clearly crossing the line with respect to the regulation, making any potential future legal action, I think, pretty clear cut,” one of the officials said.