Over the past month, lawmakers in three states — Missouri, Colorado, and Mississippi — have introduced bills that would allow drug makers to promote their medicines for so-called off-label uses, so long as the information given to doctors is truthful.
The efforts come less than a year after Arizona adopted such a law, making it the first state in the U.S. to permit off-label promotion. The bills also arrive amid ongoing pressure on the Food and Drug Administration to loosen regulations for off-label promotions, which is one of the most contentious issues to roil both the agency and the pharmaceutical industry.
At issue is a fierce debate over patient safety and free speech.
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