BACK of the BOOK
Heard in the Blogosphere
What Drug Ads Don’t Say
“We could ban the [pharmaceutical industry’s] ads, as almost every other country does,
and which I’d strongly support. But such a campaign in the United States would face
fierce legislative and legal challenges. Instead, let’s help the drug companies make their
ads truly educational. What I propose is a universal scorecard for all new drugs, to be
overseen by the FDA, with information on how their cost and effectiveness measure
up against similar medications. … Think of the scorecard as the batting average for a
baseball player. If you wan