Company pulls TV ads for heartburn drug Prevacid; says print provides more detail

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) _ The maker of heartburn medicine Prevacid has pulled a nearly $100 million television campaign, saying it wants to focus on print ads to better explain the drug's potential

Tuesday, April 19th 2005, 10:30 am

By: News On 6

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) _ The maker of heartburn medicine Prevacid has pulled a nearly $100 million television campaign, saying it wants to focus on print ads to better explain the drug's potential side effects and health risks.

``Print advertising allows consumers to take their time reviewing important risk-benefit information,'' Katherine Stueland, spokeswoman for TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc., said Monday. ``Additionally, it gives us ample space to include that information.''

Some of the television ads featured former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway.

Print ads once dominated the prescription drug industry, but in 1997 the Food and Drug Administration loosened rules allowing drug makers to advertise on television. But lately, drug companies have reconsidered advertising methods amid increasing regulatory crackdowns.

TAP said it hopes its print ads will allow ``consumers to take an adequate amount of time to review important information about the drug,'' Stueland said.

The most common side effects of Prevacid are diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain and headache, according to the drug's Web site.