Like the pollen in the air, drugmakers with allergy meds scramble for market share this time of year. But sometimes they try a wee bit too hard.

Take Schering-Plough and GlaxoSmithKline. Both companies were tagged by the FDA’s Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications for distributing details aids that were misleading, made unsubstantiated claims or omitted facts. Schering-Plough sells Nasonex and Glaxo peddles Flonase.

And of course, each company was chastised for making claims that its drug was better than the other guy’s drug. That’s not surprising, of course. The competitive spirit obliges one to make comparisons to rivals.

But both drugmakers ought to know better. Nasonex and Flonase aren’t new products, and FDA rules are clear. These aren’t mere mistakes, but examples of sales departments trying to see how hard they could push boundaries and get away with detailing false information.

At least the FDA, however it became alerted to the material, chose to act while allergy season is still under way, rather than months from now. Meanwhile, though, some damage has been done. The false info has been circulating, creating false impressions.

Perhaps there should be large fines for these sorts of infractions. What do you think?

FDA letter to Glaxo;
Flonase detailing aid;
FDA letter to Schering-Plough;
Nasonex promotional material.

[tags]Flonase, GlaxoSmithKline, Nasonex, Schering-Plough, Warning Letters[/tags]