Feb. 15, 2011 — In a recent issue of Medical Marketing & Media News Brief, John Kamp, director celebrex order of the Coalition for Healthcare Communication, weighed in regarding an op-ed piece on direct-to-consumer advertising in The New York Times written by Ian Spatz, a former vice president for global health policy at Merck, who currently works in the healthcare practice of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in Washington, D.C.

Spatz contends in the piece that Congress should “pass legislation that would allow drug companies to cooperate with one another, and with physician and patient organizations, to develop joint ad campaigns that are specific to certain diseases and conditions but not to any particular drug.” Such ads, Spatz asserts, would allow pharmaceutical companies to “inform consumers about the disease; its treatment options, including pharmaceuticals; and how to gain further information not biased toward any particular brand.”

Kamp told MM&M that this concept is “simply a naïve idea, ignoring the realities of a competitive marketplace and the value of multiple products in a category – and let’s not forget the First Amendment.”viagra without a prescription legal