page advertisement ran Nov. 23 and Nov. 24 in The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today and other papers just days after veteran FDA scientist David Graham told a congressional hearing that Crestor was one of five drugs that could be unsafe. Immediately after the advertisement ran, consumer watchdog group Public Citizen called the promotion misleading and asked the FDA to prohibit its future publication. The group has cited reports the drug can cause kidney damage and is calling for Crestor to be pulled from the market. The FDA's letter "is further reason for the FDA to act on our March 2004 petition and immediately ban Crestor," said Sidney Wolfe, head of Public Citizen's Health Research Group. AstraZeneca has previously said Public Citizen's concerns about the advertisement were "absurd." --MORE 2324 Local Time 2024 GMT
