AMA wants moratorium on new drug ads

The American Medical Association is pushing for a moratorium on advertising new drugs, saying that there should first be a period in which doctors can learn about the new pharmaceuticals. Many in the drug industry have resisted a moratorium, insisting that advertising was a key method of educating the public.

- here's the report [1] on the AMA from the Chicago Tribune

PLUS: The FDA, meanwhile, wants to stop the use of abbreviations in prescriptions, which the agency says can cause dangerous mistakes. Confusion over some abbreviations has been known to lead pharmacists to mix a new drug ten times the potency of the actual amount prescribed. Report [2]