Consumer advertising

The introduction of oral medications and direct-to-consumer advertising has made patients feel more comfortable approaching practitioners for treatment advice. 

Third, pharmaceutical advertisements increasingly are targeted directly to consumers. The major impetus for an increase in this technique was publication of a draft guidance by the FDA in 1997 and a final guidance in 1999 that permitted advertisements to include the purpose of the product (FDA, 1999). From 1997 to 2000, direct-to-consumer advertising in the U.S. increased from 860 million to 2.5 billion (Lancet, 2002). It must be assumed... 

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (1999) Final Guidance on Direct-to-Consumer Advertising. Federal Register 64 43,197-198, available at www.fda.gov/cder/guidance/1804fnl.htm (accessed May 26, 2002). 

A recent innovation has been direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug promotion in the broadcast media. Because FDA regulations require a summary of the entire approved package insert to appear with any prescription drug advertisement, it was extremely difficult to use radio or television advertising for this purpose. Most consumer advertising for prescription drugs was therefore limited to the print... 

Prescription medicines may only be advertised to healthcare professionals - they may not be advertised to consumers. Advertisements of prescription medicines directed at healthcare professionals are regulated under a self-regulatory Code of Conduct administered by Medicines Australia. First published in 1960, it includes... 

The United States Experience with Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs... 

Currently only two countries, the United States and New Zealand, permit pharmaceutical manufacturers to market directly to consumers, where consumers are defined as potential ordinary patients and not as health care providers. The United States also now permits direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for prescribed medical devices. Whether DTCA should be permitted at all, permitted but only with much more stringent regulation, or replaced with public health announcements, are issues on which much has been written and continue to be controversial in the United States and in New Zealand. There is also a considerable literature surveying consumers and physicians perceptions of DTCA. ... 

Figure 9.1. Trend in direct-to-consumer advertising spending, 1994-2004. Source IMS Health and Competitive Media Reports.

The Ten Most Common Conditions identified from Direct-to-Consumer Advertising (DTCA) Visits. DTCA visits were defined as physician visits in which the patient initiated discussion about a prescription drug that had been advertised on broadcast media. Data are from Weissman et al. ... 

Berndt, Ernst R. 2005. To Inform or Persuade Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs. New England Journal of Medicine 352(4) 325-328. 

Calfee, John E. 2002. Public Policy Issues in Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs. Journal of Public Policy Marketing 21 2) 17 4-193. 

Calfee, John E., Clifford Winston, and Randolph Stempski. 2002. Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and the Demand for Cholesterol-Reducing Drugs. Journal of Lave and Economics 14(2) 673-690. 

Donohue, Julie M., and Ernst R. Berndt. 2004. Effect of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising on Medication Choice The Case of Antidepressants. Journal of Public Policy Marketing 2- 2) n5-n7. 

Gahart, Martin T., Louise M. Duhamel, Anne Dievler, and Roseanne Price. 2003. Examining the FRDA s Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising. Health Affairs-Web Exclusive W3 120-123. 

Hoek, Janet, PhUip GendaU, and John Calfee. 2004. Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Medicines in the United States and New Zealand An Analysis of RegaJutory Approaches andConsumeiResponses. International JournalofAdvertising 23 197-227. 

Kravitz, Richard L, Ronald M. Epstein, Mitchell D. Feldman, Carol E. Franz, Rahman Azari, Michael S. Wilkes, Ladson Hinton, and Peter Franks. 2005. Influence of Patients Requests for Direct-to-Consumer Advertised Antidepressants A Randomized Controlled Trial. /owmaZ o/i/ieAmerican Medica/Associaiion 293( 16) 1995-2002. 

New Zealand Ministry of Health. 2000a. Directto Consumer Advertising of Prescription Medicines under Review. Media release, December 1. Available at www.moh.govt.nz/ moh.nsf. Last accessed April 30, 2005. 

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. 2005. PhRMA Guiding Principles Direct to Consumer Advertisements about Prescription Medicines. Washington, DC, August 2005. AvaUahle at www.phrma.org. 

Saunders, Barrie. 2003. Direct to Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs in New Zealand Professors Protest to Government Placed under the Microscope. Wellington, New Zealand Saunders Unsworth. Available at www.sul.co.nz. 

Weissman, Joel S., David Blumenthal, Alvin J. SUk, Michael Newman, Kinga Zapert, Robert Lehman, and Sandra Feibelmann. 2004. Physicians Report on Patient Encounters Involving Direct-to-Consumer Advertising. Health Affairs - Web Exclusive W4 219-233. 

Wosinska, Marta. 2002. Just What the Patient Ordered Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and the Demand for Pharmaceutical Products. Harvard Business School, Marketing Research Paper Series, No. 02-04. 

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