Is it right for drug companies to tout their wares for “off-label” uses? The US Food and Drug Administration seems to think so.
Doctors are already allowed to prescribe drugs and devices for purposes that have not been officially approved, but drug companies are not allowed to promote such use. The FDA has now issued draft guidance which would allow sales reps to circulate peer-reviewed papers about off-label uses of a company’s product.
“I think this is a big mistake,” says Michael Steinman, of the University of California, San Francisco. “You can cherry-pick the science you like and ignore the science you don’t.”…
