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# More Groups, Experts Back KEI Ad Music Petition
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/more-groups-experts-back-kei-ad-music-petition/
- Published: 2023-05-11T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T18:31:29.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5154423

Knowledge Ecology International (KEI), which petitioned FDA in 2020 asking it to ban the use of background music during the presentation of risks in direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads, says three groups and seven individuals submitted 5/10 comments to the agency supporting the petition. The [petition](https://www.fdaweb.com/petition-seeks-ban-on-music-in-dtc-ads/) had already been “strongly endorsed” by Public Citizen in 2020 comments. KEI [says](https://www.keionline.org/38721?ref=fdaweb.com) the latest support came from the Public Interest Research Group, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Generation Patient, and seven individuals.

The joint petition comments called out FDA for providing a 1/29/21 interim response saying the petition was under review, and then saying nothing since then. “The inaction by FDA on this petition in the last two years … is concerning and we ask that FDA respond and grant the remedy proposed,” the comments say.

The supporters say there is “ample evidence” that the music used in drug DTC ads “is designed to undermine the warnings mandated by FDA…. When drug advertisers use music during an ad’s presentation of a drug’s side effects and risks, the companies have the opportunity to lessen the viewer’s comprehension of the product’s risks. This ultimately leads to more consumers believing they should take a drug that their physician might not otherwise prescribe them, which has negative ramifications for patient-physician relationships.”

The organizations and individuals also say that KEI’s charge that profit-driven manufacturers and advertisers are deliberately choosing incongruent music to distract from a product’s risks is well-documented in the petition and “is obvious to anyone who pays attention to the countless audiovisual ads in programming for news, entertainment, and sports.”

The petition concludes that since it is beyond FDA’s scope and means to monitor and screen each ad and weigh the level of distraction presented by different types and volumes of music, what is needed is an agency ban on the use of music during any audiovisual ads when the risks of products are discussed.