Direct To Consumer Advertising (DTCA)

Despite this, the industry did not alter its ways, maintaining that its ad campaigns were "educational," and that people were able to make their own decisions about what they purchased (Payer 66). However, it is evident that the advertisements produced by the pharmaceutical industry are designed for the very purpose of making it difficult for people to make these decisions independently. This marketing produces a large number of often deceptive, misleading tactics which have a large influence on both consumers and medical practitioners. The chief beneficiaries of this marketing are not the consumers but the pharmaceutical companies themselves.

There are proponents of DTC prescription drug ads. They argue that “the ads inform patients about diseases and possible treatments, encourage people to seek medical advice, help remove stigma associated with medical conditions, and provide needed sales revenue to fund costly research and development (R&D) of new drugs (Drug Ads ProCon.org).” On the flip side opponents argue “that DTC drug ads misinform patients, promote drugs before long-term safety-profiles can be known, medicalize and stigmatize normal conditions and bodily functions like wrinkles and low testosterone, waste valuable medical appointment time, and have led to our society’s overuse of prescription drugs (Drug Ads ProCon.org).”

Food and drug administration is a department of U.S health and human services. It’s responsibility is to test the safety and efficacy of new drugs entering the market as well as to make sure that these medicines are quickly accessible to people. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act has been passed in 1938 to ensure that foods other than meat, poultry and fish are clinically hygienic and safe to eat. This act also requires that the food should be labelled according to its content. (FDA.org) Drugs and tobacco are also regulated by FDA and in 1996, FDA strictly regulated the use of tobacco products like nicotine, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, by children and adolescents because of the increase in diseases prevalence and tobacco addiction. Annually 40000 deaths are attributable to its use and most of them are of premature. Therefore the goal of FDA is to stop the tobacco addiction by minors and prevent the deaths and diseases due to nicotine addiction. (FDA vs Brown, n.d) This essay will cover the food and drug administration’s role in under and over regulating drugs and medicines and how it effects our economy, health care system and patients health and safety.

Bill Maher once mocked the aggressive nature of the drug advertisements that direct you to tell your doctor that their drug is right for you. “Tell your doctor? Shouldn’t your doctor tell you what drugs you need. When you tell your doctor isn’t he just a dealer at that point,” said Bill Maher. The American public generally trusts their government to protect them from the hidden dangers prescription and over-the-counter drugs. However, that trust isn’t fully warranted as the FDA has been featured in the GAO report of “high risk” agencies which need drastic reforms. After all, the FDA is in charge of regulating the shameless drug advertisements that inundate the airwaves.

The pharmaceutical industry along with the manufacturers of healthcare products and technologies often encourage the misappropriation and distribution of marginally beneficial products and technologies in the healthcare industry. These companies often use various advertising methods to influence members of the public to request their products and services without adequate knowledge of their effectiveness and implications to their medical condition.

In regards to the price of prescription drugs, supporters note that the advertising promotes competition among the drug companies, thus driving the drug prices down. Assuming that this is true, which is disputable in itself, “some opponents also suggest that DTCPA increases health care costs because visits to the physician prompted by a drug ad can be a waste of time and money”.(nih.gov) So if the prices are driven down then that would be of benefit to some and if they are, in fact, increased that would be of impact to all consumers. This ethical analysis does not require an answer as to which point of view is true.

The fact that the United States and New Zealand are the only two countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers is unreal to me. Through the Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communication (DDMAC), the FDA guarantee that all prescription drug promotion provides truthful, balanced, and accurate information (FDA, 2010); alongside with the risk the drug has to

     Is a patient at liberty to diagnose his or her own affliction? If so, are they also qualified enough to know the right medication and take into consideration the drugs adverse effects? With the recent onset of direct to consumer advertising for prescription drugs, this is becoming the case. In 1994, expenditures on direct to consumer advertisements were about twenty-five-million a year. By 1998 that figure changed to about 225 million (Sasich 2). Turn on the TV, there they are. Open your favorite magazine, there they are again. Listen to the radio, congratulations, you’ve found another ad for the latest prescription drug. Rush down to your local

Televised drug ads have helped to update patients on the positives of pharmaceuticals. The Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) drug ads inform people about medical conditions and the treatments that come with those conditions. As stated by this article, “44% of patients…said that DTC prescription drug ads helped educate them about drugs, medical conditions, and treatments” (“Should Prescription Drugs” 2). For most patients, they are unaware of what is inside of their medications and what the risks are. With prescription drug ads, they allow the uninformed patients to become informed by

This paper takes the stand that direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of pharmaceutical drugs is unethical. This stand is based on the belief that many developed countries in the world have banned such kind of advertising because they believe that it is unethical. I believe that the advertising of pharmaceutical drugs is unethical because it gives consumers hope that a specific drug can cure their disease. However, this might not be the case as only a qualified medical practitioner can prescribe the right medication to treat a particular disease or condition. This is a major issue given that many consumers might prefer to be treated with an advertized pharmaceutical drug, yet it might not be the best drug for their specific ailment. It is believed

“Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) has grown rapidly during the past several decades and is now the most prominent type of health communication that the public encounters” (C.Ventola 669). This advertisement is trying to get consumers with diabetes to suggest this new medication to their doctor. It encourages the consumer to explore all their options and that even though treating diabetes can be hard to handle, it won’t be with Toujeo. The book states “Without DTC advertisements, consumers might not know that other treatments are out there” (Athena Du Pre 287). Patients are more likely to ask for these medications at their next office appointment. The advertisement promotes that every patient with diabetes wants to be healthy and the best way to do that is going to your doctor and asking for Toujeo. “In one U.S. study, 1 in 10 people reported making a drug specific requests at the doctor’s office” (Athena Du Pre 287). There are “318.9

People are becoming more informed about products or services they use. DTC advertising assists in educating consumers about conditions and can empower them by providing information about treatment and drug options that are available; further, it can encourage people to get treatment for conditions they may have (Goyal, Bansal, farooq, Pottahil, & Bedi, 2015). DTC, also, can mislead patients by overstating the benefits and underestimate the risks and side effects of the drug (Goyal, Bansal, farooq, Pottahil, & Bedi, 2015). While it can have a positive effect on the relationship between the patient and the health care provider, tension can occur between them when there is a disagreement with the

Imagine you have found this drug for your child’s upset stomach through a TV ad that you keep seeing over and over. You call the number to buy the drug because there weren’t many side effects listed and seeing the doctor would take too long. But when you receive the drug and your child takes it, he gets really sick and dies not long after. After burying your child, you press charges against the company because of it not listing the proper side effects. You win the case by a hair, their lawyers are tough. But wait; the company simply pays a fine and continues in it’s shady operations to take your money with ease and no care for actual people. This is what happens constantly. The companies don’t have to stop these DTC ads because they can just pay their way out of any trouble with the money they are making off of ignorant and uninformed people buying their drug.

Pharmaceutical companies should attempt to be as transparent as possible when marketing prescription drugs to the public. Their marketing efforts should not only convey the benefits of the prescription drug, but also easily convey the possible risks associated with the prescription drugs. Many patients may tend to think the benefits outweigh the potential risks of prescription drugs and may pressure their physician to prescribe it. Due to the way the prescription drug is marketed, the consumer may believe the

The Food and Drug Administration, also commonly referred to as the FDA, previously banned direct-to-consumer advertising for drug companies, but the restriction was lifted in 1997 and a new age of medical advertising was born. Previously, various medications and health services were found directly through a visit to a doctor’s