New effort to curb DTC ads by US Democrats

There is renewed pressure on the US drug industry's direct-to-consumer advertising on the back of recent controversies involving the marketing of several blockbuster drugs. In 2007, the new majority in both Houses of Congress attempted, without success, to tighten the regulation by the Food and Drug Administration of television commercials for prescription drugs (Marketletters passim).

However, allegations concerning the cholesterol drugs Vytorin (ezetimibe and simvastatin; from Schering-Plough and Merck & Co) and Pfizer's Lipitor (atorvastatin), as well as the Johnson & Johnson anemia drug Procrit (epoetin alfa), have given members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee ammunition for a new battle, according to the Wall Street Journal. A hearing by the Committee is likely to be the prelude to a renewed push for legislation.