A past post talked about reports about how Paxil may be linked to baby heart defects. Why are expectant mothers prescribed Paxil? For one thing, advertising influences medical choices, leading some pregnant women to ask for Paxil by name. Since 1997, when the FDA www.fda.gov changed the advertising rules, ads for depression medications have moved on from the respected medical journals to television and magazines. When the drug industry knows that 800,000 women per year suffer some form of depression during pregnancy, that’s a huge market to tap. But what about telling pregnant mothers taking Paxil about the risks of birth injuries and congenital heart malformations in their babies.

Public Citizen www.citizen.org is a non-profit consumer advocacy group. Its Dr. Peter Lowry has testified that direct-to-consumer ads are a problem. He described how the drug industry got the power to advertise without disclosing all the side effects: “It was made to seem as if it was some ordinary regulatory step but in fact, it just totally opened up the flood gates and television has never been the same.”

These kinds of ads came under scrutiny during hearings in the U.S. House of Representatives. www.house.gov Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA's Deputy Commissioner for Operations, testified http://www.latimes.com that "A lot has happened in the last decade with direct-to-consumer advertising, and we believe it's time to receive additional input.” "It's critical, from a public health standpoint, that the advertisements are truthful and balanced."

But do the ads tell the whole truth? They don’t tell the risks when they can avoid it, and that happens all the time. Through lawyers and public relations firms, Big Pharma’s got quite a lobbying effort going. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pharmaceutical_Research_and_Manufacturers_of_America Dr. Paul Anthony is Chief Medical Officer at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. www.phrma.org He says, “Drug consumer advertising is a powerful force that can educate patients and it gets them to go in and have an informed discussion with their physician about their health conditions and treatment options.” When women intend to give birth, they need to know about the risks to their babies if they take Paxil.