by Tula Connell, Oct 26, 2007

Our friends over at the Alliance for Retired Americans sent this item today in the organization’s weekly e-mail newsletter.  Seems as though the giant pharmaceutical industry is spending lots of its money on cleaning up its tarnished image.

But the new series of paid advertisements by the drug industry is being promoted as public affairs programs and features interview segments with guests such as talk show host Montel Williams and former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. 

Let’s hope Alliance Secretary-Treasurer Ruben Burks is right when he says:

Savvy seniors won’t be fooled by these slick infomercials.

 From the Alliance:

On the heels of recent drug recalls, accusations of political influence and outrage over high prescription drug prices, the pharmaceutical industry has begun a campaign to bolster its image.  An article in The Hill details a “Healthcare Campfire with Billy Tauzin,” a recent effort by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the major lobbying group for big drug companies.  Launched last month as part of a campaign that also includes several websites and weekly radio shows, the half-hour television program is hosted by Billy Tauzin, a former Republican congressman from Louisiana and the head of PhRMA since 2005. 

Reports on drug research and other various health topics are narrated by ex-professional broadcasters and produced to look like local news, the result of over $1 million spent on a high-tech studio and control room that could be found at a television station.  PhRMA aims for the show to be nationally broadcast by the end of 2008. 

At the same time, Prescription Access Litigation (PAL), a national coalition of groups–including the Alliance–that challenges illegal and costly tactics by the pharmaceutical industry, called for increased enforcement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) against misleading prescription drug direct-to-consumer advertisements.  The call was part of comments offered to the FDA regarding its proposed study of on-screen images appearing while the risks and side effects of drugs are read during advertisements, and whether they change how viewers understand drug safety information. 

 

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