The Reporter, Camdenton, MO: Lawmakers Must Address Double Standard in Patient Protection

By Connie Farrow, Patients Come First Missouri Executive Director

Americans are inundated with alarming commercials about prescription drugs and medical devices that commercials say may cause death or serious injury.

They use sensationalized words like “medical alert” or “health alert.” The ads appear to be a legitimate public service announcement aimed at protecting consumers. In reality, they are an attempt by attorneys to persuade people to file a lawsuit. 

Missouri is fortunate to have regulations in place to address manipulative or deceptive advertising, particularly within the legal and medical fields, to protect consumers.  Advertisements for legal services are considered unlawful merchandising practices in our state if they are presented as a public service announcement, suggesting they are offering professional, medical or governmental advice rather than legal services. This is critical because a patient’s immediate reaction may be to forego treatment without consulting their doctor. 

While Missouri has addressed manipulative legal advertising, many states have not. That’s why it’s perplexing that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Food and Drug Administration recently announced plans to reform direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertisements amid concerns that patients are not seeing a balance of information, but it stopped short of addressing ads for legal services.

These sneaky ads don’t guide patients toward solutions. Instead, they create confusion, prevent patients from pursuing appropriate medical remedies and can even push patients to abandon therapies that improve their health. 

Why target pharmaceutical ads while ignoring the harmful problem of legal advertising? It’s important to note the FDA already has strict oversight over drug products, which includes disclosing the major risks of the medicine and directing viewers to a source for full safety information.

Misleading legal advertising undermines trust in medical care and puts patients at risk when they need clarity and confidence most. If the goal is protecting patients from harmful advertising, start where the damage is clearest and ensure ethical standards in attorney advertising for all Americans.