Difficile est satiram non scribere.
(It is difficult not to write satire.)
--Juvenal
FDA Tells Glaxo to Pull Misleading Flonase Ads
Tue June 24, 2003 06:16 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. regulators ordered GlaxoSmithKline Plc. to pull radio and print advertisements for its Flonase prescription nasal-allergy spray that the Food and Drug Administration deemed misleading.
The FDA said the advertisements suggesting that Flonase can be substituted for the prescription allergy medicines Allegra, Clarinex or Zyrtec are in violation, since the GlaxoSmithKline drug is not approved for as many allergy symptoms as the other three.
\In a letter to Europe's biggest drug maker, the FDA said Flonase is neither therapeutically equivalent to the oral antihistamines nor interchangeable with or a substitute for them. It said the ads "misleadingly suggest that because Flonase is comparable or superior to the other allergy medicines, the consumer need consider only the possible insurance co-payment cost in considering switching to Flonase."
The FDA said Flonase has not been demonstrated to be safe and effective in treating any of the non-nasal symptoms.
The letter went on to note that the catch phrase "Flonase makes you smell better," although true in some senses, could be read as meaning the pill makes its takers more pleasing to the noses of others. It also noted that the claim in one ad that "Flonase prevents embarrassing premature discharge" seemed deliberately designed to be read as referring to something other than sneezing, since it ran in a prominent men's health magazine.
Finally, the parallels drawn between holy communion and tablets of Flonase are deemed inappropriate, according the FDA: "Flonase has not been proven to provide eternal life, nor has it been certified for use to treat Death in a clinical setting." Glaxo spokesman Zeeta Zamboni objected with particular fervor to the last complaint. "The FDA in no way regulates the production, distribution, or marketing of communion wafers. Churches have made numerous claims for them over the years as insuring eternal life, communion with the Godhead, and other effects, none of which have been verified in a laboratory setting. As far as we're concerned, Flonase is just as entitled to call itself "The Body of Christ" as any other orally-administered drug."
Cardinal Redbird, a spokesman for the Vatican, would only say "See? People laughed when we tried to stop the marketing of generic communion wafers by Martin Luther, and this is what it leads to."
(Remember, Kids, the part in bold is actual 100% news-flavored media product. The rest is the fakey part.)
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