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House Panel questions ties between not-for-profit company hired
to design new Drug Ad Web Site, Drug
Marketing Firm
House Energy and Commerce Committee
Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and
Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee
Chair Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) on have sent
a letter to
FDA inquiring about the agency's
decision to employ a not-for-profit group
with ties to a drug marketing firm to design
a new agency Web site that aims to help
consumers understand drug advertisements,
CQ Today reports.
The new Web site, "Be
Smart About Prescription Drugs: A Guide For
Consumers," was created by
EthicAd, a not-for-profit organization
funded by the drug marketing firm
Shaw Science Partners, according to
Dingell and Stupak.
Shaw's clients include
AstraZeneca,
Merck,
Pfizer,
Eli Lilly,
Bayer and
Wyeth.
According to EthicAd's Web site, EthicAd in
November 2000 agreed to create FDA's drug ad
information Web site.
The information was compiled by EthicAd
volunteers on a pro bono basis, and the FDA
Web site was launched in September 2008.
EthicAd
and Shaw are located in different suites in
the same Georgia building but EthicAd lists
no contact information on its Web site.
Shaw President Michael Shaw serves as
EthicAd's executive director, according to
his 2001 testimony before the
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation
Committee.
In the letter, Dingell and Stupak asked "why
FDA sought the assistance of a
pharmaceutical public relations firm to help
it advise consumers on how to interpret ...
advertisements."
Dingell in a statement said he "had serious
concerns that the leading pharmaceutical
companies do not share our commitment to
providing consumers with accurate
information about drug therapies."
Dingell and Stupak sent similar letters to
Michael Shaw at EthicAd and at Shaw Science
Partners. Michael Shaw could not be reached
for comment on Tuesday (Armstrong, CQ
Today, 10/14).
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