FDA Policy/General

Positive Ad Images Affect View of Drugs: Study

Positive feelings produced by images in direct-to-consumer drug ads can promote favorable beliefs about the drugs, according to research published online in Bioethical Inquiry (subscription or purchase required). Researchers from the U.S. and Australia say that their work shows that pairing a hypothetical influenza prescription medicine with positive images (such as cute animals and chocolate bars) produced more favorable feelings and beliefs toward the drug than did pairing with more negative images.

“Specifically,” the article says, “participants who saw the drug paired with positive images believed it to be safer, more effective, and more beneficial than did participants who saw the drug with negative images. Pairing with positive imagery also produced a greater intention to request the drug from a physician should flu symptoms be experienced.”

The researchers say that such use of positive images is an unreliable belief-forming mechanism whose operation in drug advertising is likely to produce unjustified beliefs. Positive imagery in ads, they write, is “antagonistic to the goal of viewers forming justified beliefs about the advertised drug.”

They suggest that such use of images is worthy of FDA study and regulation. If further study demonstrates that use of positive imagery runs counter to the goal of accurate communication, they say, FDA could censor inappropriate use of images and/or could promote media literacy among ad viewers.

Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton’s responses on vaccines, contraception and abortion medication during her 9/24 Senate confirmation hearing raise concerns that ideology could influence her decision-making if she takes over the agency, MSNBC senior medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta said Friday. Gupta was particularly critical of Overton’

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton emerged from her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday (see earlier story) without resolving questions about whether she has enough Republican support to advance — and with a rapidly narrowing window for confirmation before the midterm elections. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing provided few

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA has classified Boston Scientific's recall of its Imager II Angiographic Catheters as Class I because a manufacturing problem could cause catheter tips to degrade and detach, potentially resulting in life-threatening complications. The agency announced the Class I classification 9/25, updating an Early Alert it issued

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

FDA has approved Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for reducing the risk of relapse in adults and children aged 2 and older with frequently relapsing or steroid-dependent, childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who are in remission. The expanded approval covers the use of the CD20-directed antibody beyond its existing

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Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome