Viagra Ad Not Mentioning Health Risks Prompts FDA Warning
By Anna Boyd
16:17, April 23rd 2008
24 votes
Vote this story
Viagra Ad Not Mentioning Health Risks Prompts FDA Warning

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Pfizer Inc. on Monday for not mentioning the risks of its erectile dysfunction drug Viagra in an advertisement featuring several country musicians praising the pill.

The federal health agency sent a warning letter dated April 16 to Pfizer in which it said a video advertisement that appeared on CNN.com failed to disclose “any risk information associated with Viagra,” thus violating the agency’s advertising rules. The letter was posted Monday on the FDA’s Web site.

The 30-second video showed a group of Nashville musicians singing the refrain “Viva Viagra” in a song praising the benefits of the drug.

“The video raises public health and safety concerns through its complete omission of risk information for Viagra by suggesting that Viagra is safer than has been demonstrated,” the FDA said in its letter.

According to Pfizer representative Francisco Gebauer, the omission of the side effects warnings was “due to a technical error" on CNN’s Web site, which ran the advertisement. The risk information should have appeared simultaneously in print on the computer screen, he added.

"We regret that the Internet video ran without the appropriate safety information," he said.

Gebauer also said Pfizer has pulled all 30-second Internet video ads that require safety information to appear separately on the screen rather than within the ad to avoid similar errors.

The FDA’s advertising rules require drugmakers to mention a drug‘s negative side effects in any advertisement that highlights benefits. Viagra’s label warns of potential risks to patients with existing heart conditions as well as reported headaches and abnormal vision.



© 2007 - 2008 - eFluxMedia
dotclear

Other News in

9/11 Health Official Dismissed, Bush Administration Looks for Replacement

As the term of National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s director, Dr. John Howard, heads towards  an ending, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is thinking to replace...

Medicare Assistance Will Soon Be Hard To Get

Medicare Assistance Will Soon Be Hard To Get

The Bush administration’s announcement about the 10 percent fee cut in Medicare payments for doctors managed to cause wide distress throughout the industry. Many doctors stated that if the 10 percent...

Unfortunately, The Salmonella Isn't Going Anywhere

Unfortunately, The Salmonella Isn't Going Anywhere

The goverment’s efforts of finding the source of the salmonella outbreak seem to be misplaced, as so far no clear answers have been given about the illness. The inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug...

Congress Fails To Pass Health Bill Protecting Senior Citizens

The Congress went on the 4th of July vacation without being able to pass the bill that would have prevented a 10.6 percent cut in doctors’ wages and which would have cut the subsidies the government...

Furniture Is Not What It Used To Be

Furniture Is Not What It Used To Be

On Thursday, Bayside Furnishings of San Diego announced the recalling of 9,350 LaJolla Boat and Pirates of the Carribean Twin Trundle beds. The company’s decision follows a terrible accident in...

dotclear
Latest videos in Health
Hospital death controversy
Zac Web Browser Aims to Focus...

dotclear
Health You are here: Health
» Science   » Health   
E-mail To A Friend Print RSS Text size: Decrease font size Increase font size
dotclear
dotclear
dotclear
Most Popular in Health
Resveratrol In Red Wine May Be The Secret To Ward Off Damage Of AgingResveratrol In Red Wine May Be The Secret To Ward Off Damage Of Aging

» read full story
dotclear

Interested In This Topic?

News Alert will keep you informed. Find out more.
dotclear
Photos Gallery
dotclear
Today's Latest News
91-Year-Old Woman Searches for Keys and Gets Stuck Under Car91-Year-Old Woman Searches for Keys and Gets Stuck Under Car

» read full story
dotclear