The Nation - News from Sept. 16, 1985

The Food and Drug Administration has quietly ended a two-year moratorium on advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers, but under terms that make it unlikely such ads will become widespread. In a brief, unheralded notice in the Federal Register last week, the FDA said it was no longer asking pharmaceutical companies to honor a voluntary ban on advertising their products directly to consumers. “FDA has concluded that, for the time being, current regulations governing prescription drug advertising provide sufficient safeguards to protect consumers,” the notice said.