FDA warns drug makers about posting ads on search engines

NEW YORK Fourteen drug companies have received warnings from the Food and Drug Administration about advertising on Internet search engines, according to published reports.

Advertising Age reported that the agency had told the companies to stop “misbranded” and “misleading” advertising on such sites as Yahoo and Google. The companies include Bayer, Biogen Idec, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cephalon, Eli Lilly & Co., Forest Labs, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and Sanofi-Aventis.

The FDA told the companies that the ads did not properly link information about the drugs’ efficacy with safety risk, according to the report.