A decision by a federal appeals court this week could have a dramatic impact on the marketing of prescription drugs in America, potentially affecting patient care and everything from TV drug advertising to future government prosecutions -- prosecutions which have in the past yielded billions of dollars in settlements -- doctors and attorneys said Tuesday.
"This risks taking us back to an era when people could promote snake oil without restrictions -- a situation I would hate to see," said Richard Deyo, a professor of family medicine at Oregon Health & Science University.
However, others say the ruling is a victory for free speech, one that could become the drug industry equivalent of Citizens United, the 2010 US Supreme Court decision that gave corporations and unions the right to spend unlimited sums on political ads.
Like the Citizens United case, the ruling Tuesday by the prestigious U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, involved the right of commercial free speech, applying it to the complicated world of pharmaceutical industry promotion of prescription drugs.
How wide-ranging the decision becomes likely will depend on whether it gets to the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys said.
For years, it has been illegal for drug companies to promote their products for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, what is known as off-label marketing. But doctors are free to prescribe approved drugs for whatever purpose they want.
