Until recently, the men’s bathrooms at city hall in Bayonne, NJ, a working class town across the Hudson River from Manhattan, had framed notices and promotional brochures for Uroxtral, a drug for treating enlarged prostate that’s sold by Sanofi-Aventis. And the city has been getting paid to promote the drug.

Bayonne’s health director, Brigid Breivogel tells The Jersey Journal that the city’s Office on Aging was contacted recently by an organization called TSN - The Senior Network - based in Stanford, Conn., whose representative said that Bayonne “could earn up to $200 a year just to post health-related information.”

“I thought, ‘Well, why not?’ ” she says. “We’ve already gotten a check for $100 and we’ll get $100 every six months for any new information that’s posted. From a public health perspective, it’s not a bad idea. It just heightens awareness of the condition. And you have to have a prescription to purchase the drug so you need to talk to your doctor first before you do anything.”

Asked if it was unfair for Bayonne to be exclusively promoting one drug, Breivogel says she’s willing to display info for other drugs. “If anybody else wants to come along, that’s fine with us,” Breivogel tells the paper.

And who or what is TSN? Its web site say it offers “free programming and services for senior centers and residences.” And its part of TSN Group, a marketing company that “maintains a proprietary database and relationships with over 20,000 community-oriented venues.” Who are its clients? Drugmakers. Look here.

Hmm.. Promote enough drugs and a cash-strapped government can eliminate deficits.

Aside from relying on TSN’s credentials, Breivogel says that, as a registered nurse, she can research a drug’s medical history to determine if it could be unsafe. “This one (prostate medicine) is coming from a bona fide drug company and, as a nurse, I’m familiar with what’s out there.”

Initially, the drug info was posted in the men’s bathrooms at City Hall, but both Breivogel and TSN spokeswoman Julie Stevens say that was a mistake and they’re arranging for the materials to be transferred to the Fourth Street Senior Center where, Stevens says told the Journal, they would be more apt to be seen by seniors.