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False Pill For Back Pain Relief In New Jersey

Novartis, headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, is a subsidiary of Novartis AG, a Swiss pharmaceutical company.

The Federal Trade Commission has ordered the makers of Doan's Pills to run ads to correct misbeliefs resulting from their unsubstantiated claim that Doan's Pills are superior to other over-the-counter analgesics for treating back pain. The Order, contained in a Commission opinion announced today, would require advertising and packaging to carry the message, "Although Doan's is an effective pain reliever, there is no evidence that Doan's is more effective than other pain relievers for back pain." The order also would prohibit Novartis Corporation and Novartis Consumer Health, Inc., the marketers of Doan's, from representing that the product is more effective than other over-the-counter products unless they possess and rely upon competent and reliable scientific evidence -- including at least two clinical studies -- to substantiate their claims. In addition, the order would require Novartis to have scientific substantiation for any claims made regarding the efficacy, safety, benefits or performance of any over-the counter analgesic they market. Doan's has been marketed and sold for over 90 years and always has been advertised as a backache product.

In June 1996, the FTC charged the marketers of Doan's Pills with making deceptive back-pain relief claims in violation of federal law and announced it would seek an order prohibiting the claims in an administrative trial. The FTC charged that, contrary to the advertising claims for Doan's, there was no evidence that Novartis' pills are better than competing over-the-counter analgesics in relieving back pain. The complaint cited ads that displayed packages of Doan's and other pain relievers that contained statements such as:

• "Doan's is made for back pain relief with an ingredient [other] pain relievers don't have. Doan's makes back pain go away. ...The Back Specialist."
• "If nothing seems to help, try Doan's. It relieves back pain no matter where it hurts. Doan's has an ingredient these pain relievers don't have."
• "Back pain is different. Why use these pain relievers? Doan's is just for back pain."

The opinion concludes that the false belief that Doan's was a superior product for treating backache was likely to endure, because the claims were ". . .(1) very salient to consumers (because superior efficacy is among the primary considerations for a consumer in selecting a back pain remedy), (2) clearly and consistently conveyed in the challenged ads, and (3) an integral part of an eight-year campaign." The respondent spent approximately $65,000,000 disseminating these claims, primarily in fifteen-second television and radio ads whose primary message was the false superiority claim, the opinion says.

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