The landscape of prescription drug advertising to consumers will definitely change in the wake of recent government hearings on the popular painkillers Celebrex, Vioxx and Bextra.Exactly what the new panorama will look like is still unclear, but both industry and government officials predict consumers will be more educated and less entertained in the future.Dr. Lester Crawford, acting commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates prescription drug ads, has pledged more aggressive monitoring of drug ad claims so the benefits of powerful drugs are balanced by the risks. His words were echoed strongly last week by an FDA official who reviews drug ads for accuracy.
