Each year, pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars promoting prescription drugs. While consumer-directed promotion like television advertising may be the most visible, most of the money is spent marketing directly to healthcare providers (HCPs), including physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists. It is estimated that in 2021 the industry spent over $23 billion on prescription drug promotion, with more than $17 billion allotted for marketing to HCPs, according to AnswerSuite, Promotional Answers and Kantar Media.

Prescription drug promotion may help provide HCPs with valuable information to weigh the risks and benefits of a drug when prescribing specific drugs to patients, but it is essential that the information is truthful and not misleading.

The FDA “Bad Ad” Program

Monitoring prescription drug promotion is essential. At times FDA can be challenged by the vast amount of prescription drug promotion and potentially limited access to promotion in some settings. Recognizing these challenges, FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research’s, Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) developed the “Bad Ad” program in 2010. The program encourages HCPs to recognize and report potentially false or misleading prescription drug promotion to FDA, by calling 855-RX-BADAD or sending an email to BadAd@fda.gov.

“We started the Bad Ad program with the goal of decreasing the number of false or misleading promotional messages by educating HCPs on how to identify and report them,” said Dr. Catherine (Katie) Gray, director of OPDP.

“We continue to be encouraged by the program’s results. As of October 2022, the Bad Ad program has received more than 2,400 reports of potentially false or misleading promotion. In cases where the promotion warranted further agency action, OPDP moved forward with compliance strategy to put a stop to the promotion,” said Gray.

Recognizing and Reporting Bad Ads

By reporting suspected false or misleading prescription drug promotion, HCPs can help ensure that the information they’re relying on is truthful and not misleading, contributing to the protection of patients and the public health.

Common issues identified in false or misleading prescription drug promotion include:

• omitting or downplaying a drug’s risks;
• overstating the drug’s benefits
• failing to present a fair balance of risk and benefit information;
• omitting material facts about the drug;
• making claims that are not appropriately supported;
• misrepresenting study data;
• making misleading drug comparisons; and
• promoting an investigational drug as safe and effective when the drug has not been proven to be safe and effective.

The Bad Ad program provides quick and easy ways to report.

To report potentially false or misleading prescription drug promotion:

For additional information about the Bad Ad program including a free course, please visit: www.fda.gov/BadAd.