Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America ("PhRMA") recently announced that its member companies have adopted enhancements to the "PhRMA Guiding Principles: Direct to Consumer Advertisements About Prescription Medicines" ("Guiding Principles" or "Principles") to be more transparent about medicine costs in direct-to-consumer ("DTC") television advertisements. The Guiding Principles were originally adopted in January 2006, and were last revised in December 2008.
The Principles have been expanded to include the following:
19. All DTC television advertising that identifies a prescription medicine by name should include direction as to where patients can find information about the cost of the medicine, such as a company-developed website, including the list price and average, estimated or typical patient out-of-pocket costs, or other context about the potential cost of the medicine.
The revised Principles will become effective on April 15, 2019; however, in a recent press release, PhRMA stated that "changes to PhRMA members' DTC television advertisements will begin in the coming months." Additionally, "[s]ignatory companies' CEOs and chief compliance officers will [have to] certify on an annual basis that they have policies and procedures in place to foster compliance with the updated principles."
To view PhRMA's press release and the Guiding Principles, please click here.
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