FDA Says Puppy Prozac Adverts Misleading

Posted by Clare Bristow

sad-newfoundland-dog Eli Lilly has got into trouble with the Food and Drugs Administration Agency over advertisements for its Puppy Prozac drug Reconcile, which is prescribed for the treatment of separation anxiety.

Reconcile contains fluoxetine hydrochloride, an ingredient in the anti-depressant Prozac, hence the name Puppy Prozac.

What annoyed the FDA was that advertisements for Reconcile stated that:

73% of dogs receiving Reconcile showed significant improvement within eight weeks compared to placebo-treated animals.
42% of dogs receiving Reconcile showed significant improvement within one week compared to placebo-treated animals.

without mentioning the fact that the dogs tested with both the drug and placebo also received behavioral modification training.

Additionally, the FDA pointed out that the clinical trials for Reconcile showed that 51% of the dogs receiving just the behavior modification training showed a significant decrease in the symptoms of separation anxiety at the end of the eight week trial.

In its letter to Eli Lilly the FDA points out that the promotion of Reconcile "suggests that the product is more effective than has been demonstrated".

Eli Lilly has now amended the claims for the drug's effectiveness in treating separation anxiety on it's web site, and no doubt in its other promotional material too.

It's good to see the FDA taking this action. To many owners Reconcile will always be a quick and easy fix for separation anxiety - it's easier to pop a pill than put in the time and effort to treat the underlying cause - and the way the drug was being promoted only encouraged that thinking.

Did you enjoy this post? Subscribe to the Dog Topics feed to be notified every time a new post is added to this blog.

Keywords: Behavior Dog Training, Prozac for dogs, separation anxiety, separation anxiety drug

Filed Under Behavior Dog Training, Blog

Sorry, No Related Posts Found

Comments

One Response to “FDA Says Puppy Prozac Adverts Misleading”

Ty Brown on February 15th, 2008 2:40 am

It's dissapointing to see how drug companies push medication for dogs with destruction problems. What is more dissapointing is veterinarians general lack of understanding of dog behavior. I have many clients whose vets have given their dogs medicine for separation anxiety when they obviously don't have separation anxiety. They just need training to not be destructive.