Health

Misleading HIV Drug-Ad Campaign Will Be Changed

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 31, 2002 / 8:41 AM EST / CBS

A leading maker of anti-HIV drugs says it is changing its consumer advertising campaign to caution that the drugs are not a cure-all.

The change is in response to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning to drugmakers that the ads can be misleading. John Blackstone has more.

The ads portray vigorous, energetic people enjoying an active, carefree lifestyle. But the ads are selling drugs to those infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and they may be delivering a dangerous message.

"The ads are leading a lot of gay men to believe that having HIV and AIDS is not a problem--is not a big deal anymore," Jeff Getty, of the group Survive AIDS, says.

With HIV infection rates on the rise again in big cities like San Francisco and New York, AIDS activists are concerned the ads are contributing to the myth that AIDS is curable. The truth is, the miracle drugs that are keeping people alive usually make them feel miserable, causing ailments from nausea and diarrhea to liver failure.

Jonathon Pon, who takes a daily dose of 30 HIV medications, says the ads are a lie.

"Many people refer to them as cocktails, and rest assured, this is nothing short of oral chemotherapy," says Pon.

"In my case I wouldn't be hiking to the top of a mountain. I would always want to know within 10 feet where the nearest restroom was," adds Pon.

The concerns led AIDS activists like Jeff Getty of Survive AIDS to ask the FDA to evaluate the ads.

They are selling HIV medicine like it was cold remedies, like it was sinus medicine," says Getty. "They are glamorizing HIV."

The FDA has now ordered eight drug companies to include information about the side effects of the drugs and the danger of HIV.

These ads need to fairly portray the product," says Nancy Ostrove of the FDA. "It is important for people to understand that these products are not cures--that they don't prevent transmission . . . and in general they need to be used in combination with other products."

Merck, the pharmaceutical company that ran the rock-climbing ads that Pons referred to, said in a statement to CBS News, "We did want to portray that the challenges of HIV could be managed and that they could be overcome."

The drug companies have been given 90 days to rework their advertising. But Jeff Getty worries the damage may be done--if the ads encouraged any of those at risk to take chances in the belief that AIDS is no longer a problem.