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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, dozens of famous people have been on TV in recent years urging consumers to ask their doctors for specific prescription drugs for conditions such as depression and cancer.

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

Experts say the shift is because of concerns about 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, president of Quantum, a health care advertising company.

"What 2005 will probably show is that percentage going up." Ad-spending monitor TNS Media says consumer drug-ad spending, which totaled $4.4 billion in 2004, dipped 1.5 percent in the first five months of this year, compared with period las...

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