Mass Tort Defense : Mass Tort Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Sean P. Wajert : Dechert Law Firm : Products Liability, Class Actions, Pharmaceutical Litigation

Two subcommittees of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade and the Subcommittee on Health, held a joint hearing last week on the issue of “Food Marketing: Can ‘Voluntary’ Government Restrictions Improve Children’s Health?”

Speakers came from the CDC, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the FTC, Campbell Soup Company, and the Association of National Advertisers.

The background of the hearing is that the 2009 Consolidated Appropriations Act contained report language forming an Interagency Working Group (IWG), comprised of the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture. The IWG was tasked with conducting a study and issuing a report to Congress concerning standards for marketing food to children.  Instead of conducting the prescribed study or providing a report to Congress, the IWG issued a document entitled “Preliminary Proposed Nutrition Principles to Guide Industry Self-Regulatory Efforts.”

The document presented a a sweeping set of “voluntary” principles for marketing foods to kids,  based on nutritional standards that exceed and conflict with those of other government programs. They also reflect a tenuous grasp of science, lacking evidence, critics say, showing that childhood obesity is related to advertising of food that doesn’t comply with the proposed principles.  The guidelines are so restrictive that many healthy foods, like low-fat yogurts, whole wheat bread, and 2% milk could not be marketed to those 17 and under. Even non-sweetened cereals would not meet the IWG guidelines.  According to one analysis, 88 out of the 100 most advertised foods and drinks would be in violation of these standards.

Regardless of whether a child sees a commercial for an item, the ultimate purchasing decision rests with the parent who purchases the groceries – and those groceries carry nutrition labels that every parent can read.  Of course, this is the nanny state rearing its head again. And there are serious issues of infringement of constitutionally protected commercial speech.

But a legitimate concern to our readers is that while these guidelines are labeled as voluntary, what happens when a litigious group sues a food manufacturer because it showed a commercial advertising a new kind of chocolate treat or drink that does not comply?  Our readers are surely familiar with example of courts allowing plaintiff experts to note "voluntary" or "recommended" guidelines.

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The Food and Drug Administration has proposed to amend its regulations concerning direct-to-
consumer (DTC) advertisements of prescription drugs. Specifically, the proposed rule would implement a new requirement of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, added by the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA), that the major statement in DTC television or radio advertisements relating to the side effects and contraindications of an advertised prescription drug intended for use by humans be presented in a clear, conspicuous, and neutral manner. See 75 Fed. Reg. 15,376 (3/29/10). FDA is also proposing standards that the agency would consider in determining whether the major statement in these advertisements is presented in the manner required by FDAAA.

Readers of MassTortDefense know how DTC ads have impacted products litigation, from effects on the learned intermediary doctrine, to influence on the jury pool, to forming part of the basis of substantive information-based claims.

Under the current regulations the presentation of risk information in an advertisement for a prescription human or animal drug is required to be comparable in prominence and readability to the presentation of effectiveness information in the advertisement. If an advertisement presents effectiveness information in a clear and conspicuous manner, risk information is required to be presented in a comparable manner.  The new proposal would require disclosure of the major side effects and contraindications of the drug in a clear, conspicuous, and neutral manner, regardless of the manner in which effectiveness information is presented in the advertisement.

The proposed regulations would define the required clear, conspicuous, and neutral manner, as being met if:

1. Information is presented in language that is readily understandable by consumers;
2. Audio information is understandable in terms of the volume, articulation, and pacing used;
3. Textual information is placed appropriately and is presented against a contrasting background for sufficient duration and in a size and style of font that allows the information to be read easily; and
4. The advertisement does not include distracting representations (including statements, text, images, or sounds or any combination thereof) that detract from the communication of the major
statement.

FDA said it recognizes that these standards require judgment in their application. Therefore, the agency does not intend to prescribe a set formula for ‘‘clear, conspicuous, and neutral’’ major
statements because there is more than one way to achieve these standards in a television or radio ad. FDA intends to be flexible enough to consider the variety of techniques sponsors may use to appropriately convey required risk information in prescription drug ads. Sponsors have the flexibility to be creative in designing their ads as long as all of the standards listed here are complied with such that the major statement is communicated effectively to consumers and the overall message
that the advertisement conveys to consumers is accurate and non-misleading.

Comments on the proposed rule are due by June 28, 2010.

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Readers of MassTortDefense know how FDA regulatory treatment of advertising and promotion can impact product liability litigation involving drugs and medical devices. Earlier this year, the FDA issued draft Guidance for Industry Presenting Risk Information in Prescription Drug and Medical Device Promotion.  This draft guidance describes factors FDA considers when evaluating advertisements (ads) and promotional labeling for prescription drugs, ads for restricted medical devices, and promotional labeling for all medical devices for their compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and relevant regulations. The draft guidance discusses factors that are relevant to the disclosure of risk information and provides numerous examples to illustrate FDA’s thinking on these factors. The recommendations contained in this draft guidance apply to promotional materials directed to both consumers and healthcare professionals.

As the comment period has drawn to a close, the medical device trade group AdvaMed has weighed in, arguing that the FDA's draft guidance on presentation of risk information in advertisements fails to adequately distinguish between devices and drugs.  The group asserts that the draft lacks content and specificity for device makers, and that a separate guidance document for medical devices is probably warranted. One example is the discussion in the draft of the important concept of over-warning, which is done solely with drug examples.

The comments also not the inherent differences between drugs as therapy and a device which requires a separate intervention (surgery) to be used. Because devices are often used in conjunction with other devices and drugs, communications with consumers of medical devices may need to focus more on a broader spectrum of risks and benefits of ongoing therapies, with a larger group of health care professionals.

AdvaMed also questions the draft's notion that risk information should be spread throughout a promotional piece, rather than located in one easy spot for the consumer to find.  Overall, the draft appears to focus on risk information without adequately discussing the intersection with benefit information.

The group agrees with a move towards the "reasonable consumer" standard for evaluating promotional pieces, and suggests the same direction be taken with DTC advertisements. Highly trained regulators cannot easily evaluate DTC ads as would an average consumer.   Finally, the group argues the draft should provide more specific guidance on use of the Internet for promotion, and the use of hyperlinks.  Increasingly the Internet is a source of information for medical consumers.

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The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing last week to examine issues related to direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising for medical devices. The amount of medical device advertising directed to consumers on television or over the Internet was an estimated $193 million last year, a figure that is a small fraction of the volume of consumer advertising for prescription drugs. Yet, device DTC is getting increased attention.

At the hearing, medical, advertising, and consumer experts shared with the committee their opinions about DTC medical device advertisements, including whether health risks are appropriately conveyed to consumers. The hearing was called by liberal Democratic Committee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI), who has apparently already decided that Congress ought to be prepared to call for a future moratorium on DTC ads for new medical devices.

Dr. Daniel Schultz, the director of the Center for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) at the FDA, discussed the current status of their enforcement activities related to DTCA for medical devices. The CDRH is the division of the FDA responsible for the regulation of restricted medical device advertisements.

The head of Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), related the organization’s current policy on DTC advertising and reaffirmed the medical technology industry’s strong support for truthful, non-misleading advertising of its innovative products. AdvaMed believes that in addition to being truthful and not misleading, all DTC advertising should use consumer-friendly language, disclose relevant risk information, and encourage patients to speak with their doctors in more detail. Current FDA rules governing direct-to-consumer advertising are adequate. FDA and FTC already have extensive legal authority to regulate false or misleading advertising for medical devices. FDA has a full range of potential remedies it can bring to bear, from issuing a warning letter to removing a product from the marketplace.

Indeed, while it is unproven that any advertisement will cause a patient to take a drug – as opposed to discuss a possible prescription with a physician – it seems even less likely that a medical device ad will do anything other than stimulate a patient to ask a doctor about a device: a patient does not agree to undergo surgery unless they think they have a serious need for it.

Direct to consumer advertising is a powerful educational tool that allows patients to learn of new technologies and treatment options in a timely fashion and can help to initiate important discussions between physicians and patients. DTC advertising is an invaluable tool to enhance the exchange of information and empower patients to ask questions about their own health. 
 

Nevertheless, the rest of the hearing lineup was stacked with opponents of DTC advertising: Dr. Kevin Bozic, a professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, provided an opinion of how DTC advertising supposedly has the potential to adversely impact the doctor-patient relationship, patient education, and health care costs and quality. Next, Dr. William Boden, a professor of medicine and public health at the University of Buffalo, and Dr. George Diamond, a senior research scientist at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, shared the findings of their recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, offering their opinions about how DTC advertising can theoretically affect patient understanding of medical device effectiveness and risks.

Dr. Ruth Day presented expert testimony on how DTC advertising may influence consumer behavior. Also on the first panel was Ami Gadhia, policy counsel for the Consumers Union, who testified about her organization’s petition to the FDA in December, 2007 for pre-review and specific risk disclosures for medical device advertisements.
 

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