Bayer Agrees to Modify Aspirin Claims

Drug giant Bayer will spend $1 million to roll back its claims that just about all adults could take aspirin to prevent heart attacks, the Federal Trade Commission said. The settlement between Bayer and the FTC requires the company to include the warning “Aspirin is not appropriate for everyone, so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen” in any advertisements about using the drug to prevent heart disease. The German company, whose U.S. unit is based in Morristown, N.J., must also distribute to doctors’ offices a brochure warning of the risks of aspirin use. The settlement must be approved by the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. Doctors say the risks are great enough that no one should start taking aspirin every day without consulting a physician, and the FTC said Bayer’s ads did not make this clear.