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Such ads don't have to mention any drug risks.

From sports figures such as Jack Nicklaus to movie stars such as Sylvester Stallone, many famous people have been on TV in recent years urging consumers to ask their doctors for specific prescription drugs for everything from depression to cancer.

Now, more of those celebrities want to make you "aware" of problems you might not know about or even have.

Experts say that the shift is because of concerns over medication safety and criticism from medical and consumer groups that ads minimize drug risks.

They also point to talk in Congress about new regulations, possibly banning consumer ads until a drug has been on sale for a year, allowing time for rare side effects to emerge.

"Definitely there has been an increase in spending" on disease-awareness ads this year, said Stu Klein, the president of Quantum, a health-care-advertising company in Parsippany, N.J.

"What 2005 will probably show is that percentage going up." TNS Media, which monitors ad spending, notes that spending on consumer drug ads, which totaled $4.4 billion in 2004, actua...

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