FDA Calls Prescription Drug Ads Misleading

W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 3 -- Dr. Bradford Pontz can always spot the patient who has seen — and been sold on — a commercial for a prescription drug.

“They feel like the TV ads have convinced them that this medicine will cure them forever and they are reluctant to listen to other advice,” Pontz says.

The power of advertising is clear. As drug companies’ marketing budgets have exploded, the number of prescriptions being issued has climbed.