Sen. Barrow Peacock (R-37) has re-introduced a bill that would have reined in lawyer advertising last year had it not been for Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto.
“His reasoning was that legal advertisement is regulated by the courts, not the legislature,” Peacock told the Louisiana Record. “So, what I've done this year is come back with a similar bill but it addresses all advertising dealing with medical alerts and health alerts.”
Senate Bill (SB) 378 provides for the regulation of advertisements by prohibiting deceptive or misleading advertisements that are promoted involving a medical alert, health alert, drug alert, or public service announcement.
“As for the marketplace itself, a lawyer can spend as much as they want which is our economy in this country,” Peacock said. “We cannot tell any business how much they can spend or can't spend on advertising. That's still going to be up to them to decide what they want to do. We're just trying to make sure that you cannot be deceptive or deceiving or misleading people to think that they're going to get a reward without a disclaimer there.”
As previously reported in the Louisiana Record, people are calling the phone numbers promoted in lawyer TV commercials and divulging their health information because they think they are calling the government based on a logo.
If approved, SB 378 would disallow the use of government logos in advertising.
“They cannot display the FDA logo or a state logo in a deceptive manner or claim to be a health alert or a medical alert without saying who's paying for the advertisement and without including a statement to consult their physician before making the decision to stop taking their medication,” Peacock said.
A 2019 FDA study found 66 reports of adverse events following patients who discontinued blood thinner medication after viewing TV advertisements. Only 2% of those who stopped taking their medication actually spoke to their medical professional, 33 patients experienced a stroke, 24 patients experienced other serious injuries, and seven people died. The median patient age in the study was 70 years old.
“We’re looking to ensure that there are no unintended consequences,” Peacock added. “Already the pharmaceutical industry says to consult your doctor before making any decisions when viewing a pharmaceutical ad. This is bill would require that same thing for all ads that have medical or health alerts. We’re just trying to protect our citizens from making decisions that could endanger them.”