Re: Non-competes

[Garrett Wollman <wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>]

<<On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 11:23:49 -0400 (EDT), Sven Franklyn Weil <sven@gordsven.com> said:

> I believe it's against the law for drug companies to out-and-out advertise 
> what the medicine does.

Actually, they are allowed to make medical claims.  However, the
conditions are somewhat onerous (and must include, for example, a
detailed listing of the relative prevalence of side-effects) and so
many companies still choose not to advertise the function of their
medication -- particularly if it has an unfavorable safety profile.
They are also required to give the generic name of the medication,
which may be a disadvantage if there is or will soon be generic
competition.  (In the case of said ``purple pill'' it's officially
esomeprazole magnesium, which I don't think most consumers are in
danger of remembering.)  Finally, they are not allowed to make
comparative claims which do not reference a controlled study.

-GAWollman