Prescription Drugs Ads

The US pharmaceutical industry has $ 395 billion spent $ 5.2 billion on prescription drugs directly to consumers in 2015. Since 1962, these ads have been regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure they are not fake or misleading. The United States and New Zealand are the only two countries where direct consumer advertising (DTC) is legal.

Adverts on prescription drugs claim advertisements to alert patients about illness and treatment options encourage people to seek medical help to remove the stigma associated with medical conditions and provide the revenue needed to fund research and development of new medicines. 

Competition is the best way to ensure prescription drugs are affordable. Amy Klobuchar

Pros & Cons

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of advertising prescription drugs for consumers

Pros

1. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug ads encourage people to seek medical advice from health professionals.

64% of doctors interviewed in April 2013 agreed that DTC ads would encourage patients to contact a healthcare worker. From 2010 Prevention Magazine survey reported that 29 million patients had been talking to their medical doctor after he had seen DTC advertising on prescription and the most discussed changes in behavior and lifestyle. More than half of these patients received a prescription or generic drug, not a prescription drug, which meant that the talk with the doctor was a real benefit. Patients with lower incomes and lower levels of education who are less likely to see a doctor generally are more likely to see a doctor after seeing prescription drug advertisements.

The 2005 Family Practice Journal found that 83% of prescription prints related to communication between patients and doctors, and 76% preferred a dialogue with healthcare professionals. FDA Survey 2004, 77% of respondents stated that DTC advertising increased awareness of new medicines and 58% of them thought the ads provided enough information to help them decide if they should talk to a doctor, 73% of doctors believe patients asked thoughtful questions for DTC ads, and about 33% of patients thought of asking their doctors after the DTC’s drug advertising.

Patients with lower incomes and lower levels of education who are less likely to see a doctor generally are more likely to see a doctor after seeing prescription drug advertisements.

2. DTCs on prescription drugs inform patients about diseases/medical conditions and possible treatments.

44% of patients who responded to the 2007 survey in Clinical Orthopedics and related research told the DTC on prescription drugs helped to inform about medicines, medical conditions and treatments. The FDA survey conducted in April 2013 showed that 48% of doctors agree that DTC advertisements “inform, educate and strengthen” patients. The FDA requires drug benefits and risks to be included in advertisements to inform patients.

3. DTC Prescription Drugs ads encourage the patient to follow treatment instructions.

81% of doctors interviewed for the article published in 2007 in Clinical orthopedics and the researcher believes drug advertising on DTC recipe had a positive effect on adherence of the patient (taking medication as stated). The most compatible group of drug vendors was the person who requested the order because he saw the DTC advertisement. 18% of respondents from the FDA survey said that DTCs reminded them of taking the medicines.

Get a medical consultation here

Cons

1. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads misinform patients.

63% of doctors surveyed in April 2013 thought the advertising of drugs under the DTC prescription was uninformed and 74% of the doctors considered that the advertising of drugs under the DTC prescription overpriced drugs, which led to poorly informed patients. According to a study published in Journal of General Internal Medicine in September 2013, 60% of the allegations in the DTC’s drug ads are broadcast between 2008 and 2010 “, important information was omitted, overly informative information and research has shown that 43% of DTC claims are” objectively true “And 55% were” potentially misleading “, and 2% were” wrong “. DTC prescription drugs are often above the recommended reading level of information distributed in bulk, which means that many consumers cannot understand the information presented. Most DTC prescription drugs spent more time on the benefits of having adverse side effects. 84% of the letter regulations issued by the FDA from 1997 to 2006 cite ads to reduce the risk and / or exaggerate drug efficacy.

2. Drug advertising with DTC increases the cost of health care.

78% of doctors surveyed in 2013 agreed that DTCs on prescription drugs increased health care costs. 37% of trained doctors say they often or sometimes prescribe brand drugs because the patient is looking for a branded drug instead of prescribing an equivalent and cheaper generic drug. Brand drugs cost 30% to 80% more than generic medicines. Since generic drugs do not advertise and do not require research and development budgets, they are cheaper than branded medicines. A study published on November 23, 2009 in the Archives of Internal Medicine magazine, the price of Plavix Rose (as Medicaid’s Mednified Lotion by Plavix in pharmacies), because it needs to recover the high cost of advertising DTCs.

Brand drugs cost 30% to 80% more than generic medicines. Since generic drugs do not advertise and do not require research and development budgets, they are cheaper than branded medicines.

3. DTC prescription drug ads are banned in every country but the United States and New Zealand.

All other countries prohibit all forms of prescription-based advertising DTCs (with the exception of Canada, which allows limited forms of ad’s attraction). The United States accounts for 5% of the world’s population, but make up 42% of global prescription drug consumption.

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in 2000 that “general public advertising should not be allowed for prescription drugs” and that in 2007 the WHO group on pharmaceuticals under the pharmaceutical recipe issued a unanimous recommendation to ban consumer advertising. “

The post Prescription drugs: Pros and Cons appeared first on Docotal.