Advertisements for HIV drug Kaletra have been pulled in the United States by the Federal Drug Administration amid accusations they are misleading. The FDA said the drug's effectiveness was overstated in the ads, which used a multi-year sequence of images of a healthy young man with the caption "Where do you see yourself in five years?". There is no substantial evidence of clinical experience that the FDA is aware of that supports good health, survival and disease control for five years when using Kaletra. Clinical trials carried out by the FDA only tested patients for 48 - 72 week periods. Kevin Baker, the NZ AIDS Foundation's Positive Health Manager, says the advertismenets are seen here in imported American magazines. "Kaletra is seen as a very effective agent and quite durable but the consumer watchdogs got onto this advert in the US," he says. No clinical trials were carried out in New Zealand.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 9th November 2004 - 12:00pm