Wednesday, January 12, 2000
Bayer must back off aspirin claims
Heart, stroke advice not for all
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Think taking aspirin can prevent a heart attack? It can reduce some risk — but not for everybody.
The distinction is costing Bayer Corp. $1 million, the tab for a consumer education program announced Tuesday to settle government charges that Bayer's advertising oversold aspirin's benefits.
“Aspirin is not appropriate for everyone, so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen,” say the full-page ads Bayer must run in four national magazines between February and May.
Bayer also will distribute free consumer brochures titled “Aspirin Regimen Therapy: Is it right for you?”
FTC's charges
The settlement aims to clear up confusion about who can truly benefit from taking aspirin daily.
The Federal Trade Commission charged that a series of Bayer ads made unsubstantiated claims that regular aspi rin use could help the general population prevent heart attacks and strokes.
In fact, while aspirin can be a powerful heart protector for some people at high risk of a heart attack or stroke — and also can reduce the risk of death during a suspected heart attack — it's not recommended for just anyone.
There is little evidence that it prevents a heart attack in someone who doesn't already have vascular disease, said Dr. Rodman Starke of the American Heart Association.
It has side effects that can harm some people.
And the dose for heart patients isn't the same as what people pop for a headache.
That's why the Food and Drug Administration says aspirin therapy for heart attacks and strokes should be done under the direction of a doctor — and why the FTC carefully checked for accuracy the $1 million consumer education campaign Bayer is running to settle the charges.
“Some people have conditions that aspirin may make worse,” Bayer acknowledges in the consumer brochures. It adds: “For healthy people without any symptoms of heart disease, the risks of an aspirin regimen may outweigh the benefits.”
In addition, Bayer will pay $30,000 to both New York and Connecticut to settle similar state charges.
"Talk to your doctor'
The message is “very simple: Talk to your doctor,” said Dr. George Sopko, a National Institutes of Health cardiologist, who worries that Bayer's earlier ads implied that simply taking aspirin, instead of dieting and exercising, was enough therapy. “Aspirin is only part of it. It is not "the' therapy.”
The settlement actually surprised the heart association's Dr. Starke, who said he saw the ads and didn't consider them terribly misleading — but nonetheless welcomed the consumer campaign.
“It is going to promote the use of aspirin in those people who should be on it, and help protect those people who shouldn't be on it,” he said.
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Bayer must back off aspirin claims
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