The head of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce subcommittee is calling for tougher restrictions on DTC television advertising for prescription drugs.

AstraZeneca is going for the jugular - or rather, the carotid - with new ads emphasizing Crestor's effectiveness at slowing the progression of atherosclerosis.

Pfizer pulled Lipitor ads featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik and vowed that it is "committing to ensuring greater clarity in the roles and responsibilities of its spokespeople in its consumer advertising and promotion."

DTC TV prescription drug ads featuring an animated bee and a talking beaver were most recalled by consumers during 2007, according to ad performance tracking firm IAG Research.

After being scrapped for 2008, the FDA's plan for premarket review of television advertisements may yet appear. The agency's proposed 2009 budget includes an increase of $14 million for direct-to-consumer (DTC) TV ad review.

Merck/Schering-Plough launched patient education ads for Vytorin and Zetia in newspapers over the weekend while temporarily suspending broadcast advertising for the brands.

If unbranded direct-to-consumer ads in support of Pfizer's Lyrica for fibromyalgia moved the needle on prescriptions, branded creative could boost uptake even more.

Days after FDA ordered a second black-box warning for GlaxoSmithKline's controversial diabetes drug Avandia, Takeda is looking to capitalize on the news with full-page print ads for Actos.

Takeda's Rozerem took top honors in a UK consumer advocacy group's International Bad Product Awards.

With Abbott and Medtronic crowding into a market it has long split with Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson's Cordis is looking to raise the profile of its Cypher stent with a consumer advertising campaign - a possible first for the category.