Opinion: Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines: a counter argument

Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs.

Starting consumers off on the "path to purchase" by encouraging them to seek more information is a major goal of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising for prescription medications. But the authors found that a consumer's attitude toward DTC advertising can determine which of several paths he or she is likely to take. The attitudes of older adults are especially significant for pharmaceutical mar...

Direct-to- Consumer Advertising of Prescription

The rising costs of health care have forced changes in institutions that provide health care services to patients. Doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and drug manufacturers have changed business practices to trim costs and maximize profits. One practice exploited by pharmaceutical companies is the freedom to advertise prescription drug products.' Direct-to-consumer advertising can effecti...

Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising.

A decade of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs.

BACKGROUND Evidence suggests that direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs increases pharmaceutical sales and both helps to avert underuse of medicines and leads to potential overuse. Concern about such advertising has increased recently owing to the withdrawal from the market of heavily advertised drugs found to carry serious risks. Moreover, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ...

Clinicians' responses to direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medications.

BACKGROUND The direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medications is proliferating in the United States. The relationship between patient exposure to DTCA and the response of clinicians is not well understood. METHODS A randomized postal survey of Arizona primary care provider physicians (n = 1080) and physician assistants (n = 704) was conducted. A questionnaire was created us...