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01-05-2018 | Editorial

Dangers and Opportunities of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising

Authors: Natasha Parekh, MD, MS, William H. Shrank, MD, MSHS

Published in: Journal of General Internal Medicine | Issue 5/2018

Excerpt

The average television viewer in the United States (US) watches as many as nine drug advertisements per day and about 16 hours per year, far exceeding the time an average individual spends with his/her primary care physician.1 Since 2012, spending on drug commercials has increased by 62%, and $5 billion were spent on drug commercials last year.2 Given their ubiquity, the article by Klara, et al. in this issue of JGIM offers one more piece of evidence to indicate that this medium is not operating as intended, and to force us to consider alternatives to the status quo.3 …

Ventola CL. Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising therapeutic or toxic? Pharm Ther. 2011; 36(10): 669–674, 681–684.

Robbins R. Drug makers now spend $5 billion a year on advertising. Here’s what that buys. Published March 9, 2016. Available at: https://www.statnews.com/2016/03/09/drug-industry-advertising/. Accessed January 1, 2018.

Klara K, Kim J, Ross JS. Direct-to-Consumer Broadcast Advertisements for Pharmaceuticals: Off-label Promotion and Adherence to FDA Guidelines. JGIM 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-017-4274-9

Food and Drug Administration. The Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising. 2015. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm143562.htm. Accessed December 30, 2017.

Kelton E. More drug companies pay billions for fraud, join the “dishonor roll” after Abbott settlement. Published May 10, 2012. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikakelton/2012/05/10/more-pharma-companies-to-join-the-dishonor-roll-pay-billions-for-fraud-following-abbotts-settlement/#2d9d63d06c9b. Accessed January 1, 2018.

Stange KC. Time to ban direct-to-consumer prescription drug marketing. Ann Fam Med. 2007;5(2):101–104.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Kravitz RL, Epstein RM, Feldman MD. Influence of patients’ requests for direct-to-consumer advertised antidepressants: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2005;293(16):1995–2002.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Office Of The Assistant Secretary For Planning And Evaluation. Observations on Trends in Prescription Drug Spending. US Department of Health and Human Services. Published March 2016. Available at: https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/observations-trends-prescription-drug-spending. Accessed January 1, 2018.

American Medical Association. AMA Calls for Ban on DTC Ads of Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices. Published November 2015. Available at: https://www.ama-assn.org/content/ama-calls-ban-direct-consumer-advertising-prescription-drugs-and-medical-devices. Accessed January 1, 2018.

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Simoens S. The Portuguese generic medicines market: A policy analysis. Pharm Pract. 2009;7(2):74–80.

Title: Dangers and Opportunities of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising
Authors: Natasha Parekh, MD, MS
William H. Shrank, MD, MSHS
Publication date: 01-05-2018
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of General Internal Medicine / Issue 5/2018
Print ISSN: 0884-8734
Electronic ISSN: 1525-1497
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-018-4342-9

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