Coalition for Healthcare Communication - Coalition Commentary












Name

Company

Email

Coalition Commentary on Current Issues

U.S. Senate Delays Vote on Drug Marketing Limits

April 5 -- While the Advertising Coalition pushed hard to soften the language of the Senate drug safety bill, the United States Senate voted Thursday, May 3 to extend debate on the Kennedy-Enzi measure through at least next Tuesday, May 8th. The Advertising Coalition and its supporters are hoping to persuade Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) to incorporate marketing amendments supported by Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) into the "Manager's Mark," the final draft that will be voted by the Senators.

The AAAA and other members of the Advertising Coalition report that visits, emails and letters from supporters are helping build support among Democrats and Republicans for the Roberts Amendment. The Advertising Coalition continues to urge citizens to write or email Senators. See link below.

The delay on the vote Thursday came after Senators voted to extend debate on an amendment to allow legal importation of drugs from Canada and other countries. Further delay is possible next week if the Senate interrupts discussion on drug safety to take up a revised version of the bill funding the military in the wake of a Presidential veto earlier this week.

The current version of the Kennedy-Enzi drug safety bill still includes a package of provisions giving FDA authority to ban DTC ads for up to two years and authority to impose sweeping restrictions professional marketing as part of drug safety plans, called Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS). However, the REMS provisions have been limited to drugs where the FDA determines they are necessary, not to all drugs. The previous version of this bill, as well as the House version of the bill offered by Representatives David Markey (D-MA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA), would have applied the REMS to all newly approved drugs, plus those where new safety information arises.

Jim Davidson, head of the Advertising Coalition, says this is the most serious threat to drug marketing and commercial speech in at least a decade. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), a former newspaper publisher and editor, has offered an amendment to oppose the DTC ban and limit other provisions. When the Health Committee voted the bill, the Roberts amendment failed by only one vote, demonstrating the importance of constituent communication to Senators before the full Senate vote. These marketing limits are part of a bill sponsored by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY).

Davidson and the AAAA have developed a package of materials to enable citizens to effectively contact their Senators and register their views. All the details on the bills and instructions on how to contact Senators are available on the AAAA website: http://www.aaaa.org/EWEB/Dynamicpage.aspx?webcode=LNDGA&key=b1e045aa-e4ff-441a-bafd-1ab41a3cc97d.

Back to main Coalition Commentary Page