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Direct to Consumer Advertising: The Case for Greater Consumer Control

Guessous, Idris ; Dash, Chiranjeev

In: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2015, vol. 30, no. 4, p. 392-394

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    Titel
    • Direct to Consumer Advertising: The Case for Greater Consumer Control
    Autor
    • Guessous, Idris. Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care Medicine, Department of Community Medicine, Primary Care, and Emergency Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
    • Dash, Chiranjeev. Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
    Dokumententyp
    • Postprint
    Sprache
    • Englisch
    Veröffentlicht in
    • Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2015, vol. 30, no. 4, p. 392-394. Springer US; http://www.springer-ny.com
    Andere elektronische Ausgabe
    OAI-PMH-ID
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:331661
    Summary
    A nyone traveling to the United States from countries other than New Zealand will be surprised by the prevalence of health-related advertisements on television, including ads for drugs. Typically, these TV ads follow a pattern: an ad for a burger at only 99 cents, followed by one for a proton-pump inhibitor, then an ad on healthy home-cooked food delivered directly to your home and an ad for a home-based abdominal workout DVD, followed by an ad for a lipid-lowering drug. There are, however, nuances. After 8 pm, the visitor might encounter an ad for the "little blue pill." This sequence sometimes includes an ad featuring antihistamines for allergic rhinitis in spring and one promoting antidepressants in the winter. Such direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs is usual business in the United States and New Zealand but is prohibited in the rest of the world. Why? Because DTCA for prescribing drugs has pros and cons (discussed elsewhere,1-3 including in JGIM4) that are balanced differently in different countries. Constitutional factors-such as the First Amendment protections on speech, including commercial speech, in the United States5 -as well as patient and population safety considerations, which all differ across countries, modulate reactions to DTCA. Additionally, lack of robust data on the impact of DTCA on prescription drug use adds to the confusion. Evidence, though limited, suggests that DTCA increases drug sales. However, whether the increase in sales corrects existing underuse or encourages over/misuse is not clear.