Posted on 04/15/2005 7:59:03 PM PDT by foolscap
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators have told the makers of the popular drugs Levitra and Zyrtec to pull some advertisements the regulators said made unsubstantiated claims. The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it sent letters this week notifying Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Pfizer Inc. that a television commercial for Levitra and three direct-mail advertisements for Zyrtec made unsubstantiated claims of superiority over competing products.
In Levitra's case, Bayer also failed to disclose FDA warnings and product information, the letter said. It was the fourth such warning for Pfizer about Zyrtec.
The commercial for Levitra, an erectile dysfunction drug, features a woman praising the drug, and, according to the FDA, implying that her sexual experience with her partner was satisfying as a result of her partner's use of Levitra. She says the drug is "the best way to experience the difference." The FDA said this is an unprovable claim.
The commercial also fails to highlight side effects and FDA warnings, the agency said.
Matthew Scampoli, a spokesman for Schering Corp., which markets Levitra for Bayer, said the 15-second commercial is one in a three-commercial campaign. He said the remaining commercials would remain on the air but said, "We are going to comply with the FDA's request," to pull the 15-second spot.
"We're currently reviewing all our Levitra promotional material to address the issues raised by the agency," he added.
The ads for Zyrtec compare two people; one obviously sick, sneezing or wiping her nose, and another who looks perfectly healthy. The captions of the ads imply that the healthy and alert-looking person has taken Zyrtec; the sickly and unhappy one has taken a different medication.
The FDA said it "is not aware of substantial evidence or substantial clinical experience demonstrating that Zyrtec is clinically superior" to any other available over-the-counter or prescription allergy medicine.
An attempt to reach Pfizer by telephone after business hours on Friday was unsuccessful.
The FDA requested that both companies cease the ad campaigns and respond in writing to the request. It also said that since this was the fourth warning about the same problem for Pfizer, that Pfizer include in its response an outline of how it plans to make "truthful, non-misleading and complete" corrections to its ads
Turns out, all my relationships have just been placebos.
Mine too!
Poor little guy.
Same as a mohel. Minimum wage, plus tips
LMAO!!!!!
(To get technical, the blood get stuck in there, loses its oxygen, and you end up with the same problems you'd have with any other body part that had its circulation cut off.)
It turns blue and falls off?
Wellll, the FDA has a point, as much as I hate to admit it. Those ads did imply that Levitra is an aphrodesiac, which it isn't. L'il Willard isn't going to stand up and dance until given a reason; all pills like Levitra and Viagra do is give it the ability to get up at all.
I suppose theoretically it could, if the priapism lasted for a solid week or so. But the doctors in the ER usually treat it by shoving a needle in it and draining the blood. :)
What the general danger is, though, is that the blood vessels in it (of which there aren't that many) get damaged, and you end up impotent.
Am I the only Freeper to comment on the Zyrtec part of this story?
Allegra stopped working for my seasonal allergies, but Zyrtec does the trick - and for TWELVE HOURS, too!! Woo hoo!!
And I'll bet the pins and needles sensation after the blood starts flowing again is unpleasant . . . .at best.
You're one sick puppy.
And yet, we dispensed it like candy, with or without medical insurance.
Barbarians.
I was about to say "are you some kind of pervert"?
Heh, heh.
funniest thing I've read all day!!!!
That's a very, very bad pull toy! :-)
1) Hang on, lemme check . . . . . . . no.
2) Nope. My check (above) confirms I'm a male lesbian; I likes da wimmins.
3) Haven't seen the ol' bat in years, and that's A Good Thing.
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