With health care and prescription drug costs continuing to rise at a rate much faster than inflation, Governor Tim Pawlenty today called on Congress to place a two-year federal moratorium on prescription drug advertising and announced state legislation that would require drug companies to report the costs of their advertising to the state.

“Health care costs are skyrocketing,” Governor Pawlenty said. “Some of those costs are related to prescription drugs. We’ve tackled the problem by helping Minnesotans find safe and affordable medicines from Canada and by providing price comparisons and other information on MinnesotaRxConnect.com. But the billions of dollars drug companies spend pushing the ‘purple pill’ or promising you dreams of butterflies while you sleep at night continue to drive health care costs upward. We need to say ‘time out’ when it comes to drug ads and examine how much this is costing each and every one of us.”

The Governor was joined by Dr. David Luehr, President of the Minnesota Medical Association, and leaders from the Minnesota Senior Federation at a State Capitol press conference to announce the proposals.

The United States is the only industrialized country that permits drug companies to advertise directly to consumers. In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clarified restrictions on these advertisements, which led to the current explosion of direct-to-consumer advertisements. A decade later, drug companies spend five times more on direct-to-consumer ads, increasing from $800 million in 1996 to $4.2 billion in 2005.

The Governor’s proposal includes three parts:
 - A two-year federal moratorium on direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising
 - Legislation to adopt FDA standards as state law to allow the state to regulate prescription advertising in Minnesota
 - Legislation requiring drug companies to report their expenditures on advertising in the state

This proposal builds on several other efforts by Governor Pawlenty to help consumers access information they need to make sound health care purchasing decisions. Last month, Governor Pawlenty joined with the Minnesota Senior Federation, Consumer Reports and the Minnesota Medical Association to promote a new website, www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org, that provides unbiased, scientific information about prescription drugs and ranks them by effectiveness, safety and price. The Governor also announced an upgrade to the state’s nation-leading prescription drug website, www.MinnesotaRxConnect.com, that allows consumers to comparison shop prescriptions by city, county or ZIP code at more than 1,000 pharmacies around the state.

The Governor today sent a letter to Congressional leaders proposing the two-year federal moratorium on direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising.

Federal legislation imposing a two year moratorium on drug advertising

Governor Pawlenty’s proposed prescription drug moratorium would halt all direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs in the United States for two years. During that time, the FDA would be required to examine the cost impact of direct-to-consumer marketing and make recommendations to improve existing regulations. The legislation would also direct the FDA to improve enforcement of drug advertising.

“We know that prescription drugs have become increasingly more expensive in recent years and some of the increase is related to the billions spent on advertising,” Governor Pawlenty said. “It’s time to pause, take a step back, and find out exactly what the costs are.”

The Governor noted that New Zealand decided to ban direct-to-consumer drug advertising last year. That move followed bans enacted in Canada (2004), the European Union (2002) and Australia (2001).

Adopting FDA standards as State Law

Governor Pawlenty also proposed state legislation for the 2007 session to have Minnesota adopt the FDA’s standards on direct to consumer drug advertising as state law. This would allow the state to independently enforce FDA requirements that drug companies provide complete, valid, and clear information to the public.

The FDA currently reviews more than 30,000 pieces of promotional drug material every year, approximately $4.1 billion in advertising, with only 40 staff members, according to a USA Today article. By adopting FDA standards in Minnesota, the state would be able to also review and enforce those same standards.

Requiring drug companies to report costs of advertising

Additionally, the Governor proposed legislation to require drug companies to report the amount of money spent on advertising in Minnesota. The Governor said that making the costs of advertising public will allow consumers to know more about the impact of advertising on the price of prescription drugs. “Our goal is to slow down the explosive growth in drug costs and bring some accountability and oversight to an industry that impacts all of our lives,” Governor Pawlenty said.

Click here to download Governor Pawlenty's podcast on this issue.