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House Subcommittee Sets May 8 Date

DTC advertising is expected to come under intense scrutiny Thursday, May 8, as a subcommittee of the House’s Energy and Commerce Committee examines the role DTC advertising plays in marketing to consumers and its influence on physician prescribing.

May 1, 2008
Florham Park, NJ

House Subcommittee Sets May 8 Date
For Important Hearing on DTC Ads

 DTC advertising is expected to come under intense scrutiny Thursday, May 8, as a subcommittee of the House's Energy and Commerce Committee examines the role DTC advertising plays in marketing to consumers and its influence on physician prescribing. The subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is chaired by Rep. Bart Stupak, a Democrat from Michigan who was highly critical earlier this year of Pfizer's use of Dr. Robert Jarvik as a spokesman for Lipitor.

 Stupak, who works closely with Energy and Commerce chairman Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), has been looking into DTC advertising for the past several months, and has noted in statements that 'drug companies should know that they will be held accountable for the representations made in their ads."

 Representatives from Pfizer, Merck, Schering-Plough and Johnson & Johnson are expected to testify at the hearing. The subcommittee also is expected to hear from Kaiser, the Government Accounting Office and American Medical Association. In addition, linguist Ruth Day from Duke University is expected to make an opening statement to the subcommittee.

 If the official title of this hearing is an indication – "Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Marketing, Education, or Deception?" – the mood of the Capitol Hill get-together could be tense for pharmaceutical company executives fielding the questions. The advertising of Vytorin, co-marketed by Merck and Schering-Plough, also is expected to be a key focus of the legislators.