Summary: Direct To Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising

Ads for pharmaceutical drugs are everywhere. They are in magazines, on television and radio, on billboards, and on the little bags that you get from the pharmacist. These days it is difficult to get away from all the drug advertising. All these ads are for products that require a doctor's prescription. The goal of advertising is to increase profits. By advertising so heavily for drugs that the majority of the population does not need, pharmaceutical companies attempt to create as large a consumer base as they can. In advertising directly to the consumer, the drug companies accomplish two objectives. First, they get information directly to the consumer. Second, they promote the product and

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).”

Anyone who has stayed up late watching television, or has paged through a current magazine, has seen advertisements for medications. They often depict an individual, or couple, that is strolling along the beach, playing with their grandchildren, or enjoying a long forgotten hobby. Although the Food and Drug Administration has imposed stricter regulations on drug advertisements over the last several years, there remains an innate distraction and misleading by the drug companies in order to promote their product. “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” (Donohue, Cevasco, & Rosenthal, 2007, p. 673). This paper will critique both a prescription and over-the-counter medication advertisement, discuss the pathophysiology and mechanism of action for the gastrointestinal disorder it treats, as well as compare and contrast the two advertisements.

Many countries view differently the advertising of harmful products placing personal responsibility on consumers and regulating what consumers are allowed to indulge in. The US highly regulates some forms of harmful products, allow others, and still give some a pass. An example of this, cigarette advertising, it is only allowed on certain media, excluding television and radio, while alcohol is permitted on all media. Young or uninformed consumers usually fall victim to this type of advertising and marketing. The third issue is, Marketing and Advertising Tactics. Companies use all sorts of method to attract consumer from subliminal advertising, to emotional appeals taking advantage of less educated individuals. In 2012 two leading paint companies, Sherwin-Williams Company and PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc., agreed to settle with the FTC regarding charges that they did mislead consumers into believing that some of their paint was free of volatile organic compounds, in other words, harmful chemicals. When a company markets or advertises a product and states that it is free of an ingredient that might be an environmental or health hazard it must not contain or very little (meaning trace), of the ingredient. Another ethical issue example in marketing and advertising tactics, huge drug companies try to influence medical professionals to prescribe their drugs by hosting lavish events and showering doctors with gifts and benefits. Consumers are

So to conclude, although both positives and negatives are associated with DTC prescription drug ads, the negatives outweigh the positives because of the detrimental effects they can have on the consumer. The ads misinform patients, stigmatize normal conditions, have led to the overuse of prescription drugs, and promote drugs before long-term safety information can be known. DTC prescription drug ads are endangering the viewers in our society. In the long run, banning DTC prescription drug ads, or at the very least increasing regulation, would be best for the

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

Some may remember when the NHS health campaigns were exactly that; health campaigns, not commercials. Their primary objective was to inform the audience of the dangers of smoking and drug

According to “Cigarettes by Eric H. Shaw and Stewart Alan, “advertising continued to increase the size of the market, despite an expanding awareness of health risks and increasing advertising restrictions,” (Source B). An ad isn’t looking to solve another person’s problems with something that will definitely benefit their wellbeing. An ad is made to make a person believe he needs the product they are selling so that the business can continue to profit off of someone’s vulnerability and grow off the people to naïve to even realize they are being played. According to “Exercise Your Moral Judgement Through the Way You Buy” by Renato K. Sesana, “they create unfulfilled desires and then they push us to buy the products that we do not need,” (Source F). As a popular catch phrase goes it’s “like taking candy from a baby.” According to Advertising Information or Manipulation? By Nancy Day,” Advertising tells you what you need. Before advertising told us to, who worried about dandruff...It can make us unsatisfied with who we are, greedy for what we don’t have, and oblivious to the miseries of millions who haven’t a fraction the comforts we take for granted,” (Source D). Before ads, there weren’t as many stereotypes or as many dissatisfactions that people have. On the other hand, an ad can inform someone of

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

Advertisements have one primary purpose that is to persuade. Prescription medications Ads tell the consumers to get treatment and also imply that they have the need for it to solve their problems. Since prescription Ads have been introduced, the pharmaceutical

With the increased use of mass media advertisements to the consumer gained the attention of and criticisms of public health officials and physicians like the American Medical Association (AMA). Opponents of directly advertising to consumers argue that the advertisements mislead the consumer to either take prescription drugs that the consumer do not need or turn normal human physiological changes, like hair loss or decreased testosterone levels in aging men, as diseases. Further, opponents like the AMA argue that patients see the advertisements and insist that the doctor prescribe the medication, even though there are negative side effects of the prescription medicine. All the arguments set forth by the opponents of DTCA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a US government agency that regulate DTCA for the pharmaceutical industry is currently evaluating the policies that dictate direct advertisements to consumers. The American Medical Association is currently seeking a federal ban on direct to consumer advertising. Therefore companies that had an effective non-market strategy for the consumer rights movement may have found it insufficient to deal with the downstream issues that came with directly

prescription, because all drugs, including those that can heal, can also cause harm. Doctors, nurses and other health professionals have the necessary training and experience to help them decide whether drugs are indicated in particular cases. This is why they make the prescription decision, not patients. Prescription drug advertising pressures health professionals to prescribe particular medications, and often the ones that may be less effective and more expensive and dangerous. This intrudes in the relationship between medical professionals and patients, and disrupts the therapeutic process. It takes up valuable time to explain to patients why they may have been misled by the drug advertisements they have seen. Prescription drug advertising

Advertising has grown within society over the past years. Everything and mostly everyone who tries to catch the public attention uses advertising as a source of propaganda. Business uses them to sell product and persuade people that their products are beneficial. Depending on how good the business sells they out to people determine what they need it or not. One out of many products being advertised in the present day are prescription drugs. Many people like the idea of companies advertising medicine. Advertisement of prescription drugs should be allowed because it informs and educate people of their own health encouraging people to be more open with their doctors and help find and reduce underdiagnosed illnesses that the client and doctor

Think about how often you are watching your favorite show on television and all of a sudden you are interrupted by a commercial. The commercial begins with the following words, “Do you suffer with …” and this question follows with the following sentence, “if so, then talk to your doctor about … (the name of the medication that is being advertised)”. These prescription drug advertisements are being shown all over the United States multiple times a day. It is these advertisements that are used for publicity and marketing that are affecting Americans. The majority of Americans engage in watching television. The prescription drug advertisements do have a positive impact on Americans but, these advertisements do more harm than good.