Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc’s ad for Cenestin is misleading says Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in its warning letter. FDA sent a warning letter to Barr Pharma because it feels the ad is claiming misleading facts about the product while camouflaging the side effects that may arise from it.
Additionally, the ad is misleading because it fails to reveal an important contraindication; specifically, the ad fails to reveal that Cenestin should not be used in women with liver dysfunction or disease.
A set back for Barr. The company only last week signed a three year sponsorship deal with Futures Tour. This national sponsorship deal will be named after Duramed, one of Barr’s proprietary products subsidiary. The irony of the story is that Duramed like Cenestin is also women’s healthcare pharmaceutical products and its sponsored event Future Golf Tour is the official development tour of the LPGA i.e. Ladies Professional Golf Association.
Some embarrassment for Bruce L. Downey, Barr’s chairman and CEO who only recently on the scope of this association said:
Duramed is committed to providing women with pharmaceutical products that offer them reproductive and hormonal options that complement their active lifestyles. This partnership brings together two powerful forces committed to women, and will enable us to highlight that commitment, as well as to reinforce our message of the importance of female healthcare.
