AdvaMed Commends FTC for Addressing Misleading Advertisements Disguised as Medical Alerts

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Christopher White, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), issued the following statement on yesterday’s announcement that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sent letters to seven legal practitioners and lead generators expressing concerns that some television advertisements that solicit clients for personal injury lawsuits against drug manufacturers may be deceptive or unfair under the FTC Act:

“AdvaMed is pleased to see that the FTC recognizes misleading legal advertisements jeopardize patient safety and health.  Lifesaving medical technology has become an increasing target of these misleading ads.

“We agree with the FTC — health ads must be science based.  Health care decisions should be based on truthful and science based information in consultation with physicians, not fear-inducing misleading advertisements.” 

“As I highlighted in a recent blog post, these predatory legal advertisements are disguised to look like FDA safety alerts, recalls, or other critical medical warnings in an effort to bundle as many claims as possible for plaintiff lawyers.

“States also recognize the risk to patient health that these ads pose.  Tennessee and Texas recently passed consumer protection laws designed to shield patients from deceptive television ad practices.  I’d encourage other states to follow FTC, Tennessee and Texas and act to protect consumers from misleading and dangerous medical advertisements.  By exposing the practices of these feeder firms, FTC made a strong statement yesterday that the federal government will not sit by idly while these lead generators continue to mislead patients.”