If you suffer from depression, asthma, an enlarged prostate, insomnia, high blood pressure, or elevated cholesterol levels, we have a prescription product for you! So proclaim the direct-to-consumer ads (DTCA) that flood television and print media. It was not always that way. Before 1997, information regarding your prescription drugs was restricted to healthcare professionals—primarily physicians. You were kept in the dark, and until relatively recently, the name of your prescription drug did not appear on its container.
That all changed in 1997, when the Food and Drug Administration authorized two types of DTCA: disease-awareness ads and product-claim ads. The first type discusses a medical condition but cannot refer to a drug name. It often points you to additional sources of information, which are usually drug manufacturers. Product-claim ads, the more common type, provide the drug’s trade name and its medical use, along with a “brief summary” of the drug’s benefits and risks. What are the upsides and downsides of these ads?
DCTA ads can improve patient awareness of their possible medical conditions and available drug treatments, as well as motivate patients to actively engage their healthcare provider for information. The ads can also alert patients about more effective medicines and significant adverse effects and risks associated with their drugs. However, some patients insist that the advertised medication is what they want prescribed. Broadcast ads accentuate the drug’s benefits while minimizing the risks. Increased demands on physicians and pharmacists leave them little time to educate patients about misconceptions regarding the ads. When physicians acquiesce and prescribe newly introduced drugs, this can expose patients to uncommon but serious risks that only become obvious after large numbers of individuals have used the drug (e.g., Vioxx). Not surprisingly, DTCA almost exclusively promote products that enjoy patent protection and that are generally far more expensive than equally effective generic drugs, thus driving up healthcare costs.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are spending some $4 billion a year on DTCA, and, obviously, they believe the money is well spent.
SEE ALSO Food and Drug Administration (1906), Celebrex and Vioxx (1998).
Prior to 1997, prescription drug-related information and ads in the United States were exclusively intended for healthcare professionals—in particular physicians, who were the drug prescribers. Since this time, prescription drug ads have been increasingly designed for the consumer. Such ads are only legally sanctioned in New Zealand and the United States.