Marketing drugs to healthy women with certain risk factors: What might the FDA do to prevent doing more harm than good?

Pharmaceutical marketing practices increasingly target healthy individuals who have only risk factors for certain diseases and conditions. This presentation will explore the marketing of several prescription drugs to women in particular, including statin drugs and bisphosphonates, for conditions such as elevated cholesterol levels and mild reduction in bone density. It will contrast claims made in ads, as well as current prescribing guidelines, with the evidence-based information currently available. Also included will be recommendations for FDA policies that would both educate the public about this growing problem as well as encourage drug prescribing practices more soundly based upon high-quality evidence.