Canadian media giant challenges DTC ban

CanWest MediaWorks, Canada's largest media company, is suing the Canadian government on the constitutional grounds of unlawful limits on freedom of expression, over the country's ban of direct-to-consumer advertising by drug companies. The Canadian Medical Association Journal has estimated that at stake for Canadian media firms is a share of a market valued at about C$360.0 million ($319.3 million) per year.

US drug advertising available in Canada

A crucial factor in the potential success of the legal challenge is likely to be the court's conclusion from evidence produced by CanWest that the DTC advertising ban is ineffectual, given the wide availability in most parts of Canada of US television and radio stations, US print media including magazines, as well as the Internet. In all of these media, Canadians are confronted with DTC drug advertising that is legal in the USA. CanWest points out that the ban effectively means that non-Canadian media can collect advertising revenue for reaching a Canadian audience but local media are restricted from doing so.