Americans need safe and affordable medicine, but a new TexPIRG report shows that some drug companies are driving prices up, and putting the health of consumers at risk, by using false and misleading advertisements.

According to the new report, “Turning Medicine Into Snake Oil: How Drug Marketers Put Patients At Risk,” the FDA sent 170 notices to 85 companies for false or misleading statements and claims between 2001 and 2005. Some were quite serious. In many cases drug company representatives misrepresented risks involved with new drugs, promoted unproven uses and even made unsupported or misleading claims while promoting their products to doctors.

“Prescription drugs are powerful substances,” said TexPIRG federal advocate Paul Brown. “Doctors need complete and accurate information to make appropriate prescribing decisions, but they’re not getting that from the drug marketers. As a result, people’s health and lives are put at risk.”

In a particularly shocking finding, researchers found a favorable “report” on the clinical trials of a new drug. The report was ghost-written by a major public relations firm and rubber-stamped by a physician in order to appear legitimate.

The findings of this report provide further evidence that the FDA must be given greater enforcement authority to crack down on misleading marketing. TexPIRG supports legislation that would require drug companies to make public their clinical studies, so that doctors have scientific evidence to discern whether a drug company sales representative is making accurate claims about a drug’s effectiveness or safety.