Federal investigators seek tighter regulation of drug advertising

Washington, D.C. - Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs is growing and is boosting spending on pharmaceuticals, so the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs to pick up the pace to remove false or misleading commercials from the air. Those are the main conclusions of a landmark report on DTC advertising from Congress' General Accounting Office ("FDA Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Has Limitations," available at www.gao.gov).