Direct-To-Consumer Drug Advertising

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.

In the January 18th 2016 issue of People Magazine, AstraZeneca ran an advertisement for Seroquel XR, an atypical antipsychotic. This advertisement was just one of seven prescription drug advertisements in the 94 page magazine, all urging readers to ask their doctors about a medication. These seven advertisements are a small sample of the direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisement that flood television, radio, magazines, newspapers, and websites in the United States. The debate about whether DTC advertisement for psychotropic medication provides the consumer with more information and power over their medical care and reduces stigma or whether it leads to physicians to prescribing medications before assessing other treatment options and adds to the

Do you feel guilty? Have a recent loss of interest in things you normally enjoy? Unexplained weight gain or weight loss? Trouble getting up in the morning? Do you notice that for no reason you start crying? Slowness in activity or thought? If so, you may be suffering from depression. Sound familiar? It’s just missing one thing, the name of the drug that’s going to alleviate depression signs and symptoms, and a long list of adverse reactions. This kind of marketing is known as Direct-To-Consumer Advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs. Every day the public is exposed to constant advertisements promising that this drug is the answer to their ills and ailments; all they need to do is ask their doctor if this drug is right for them. Consumers

Marketing products, services, or even charities to the public has become a very powerful force in our world. Millions of dollars are spent on advertising each year with the goal of increasing revenue for the business or raising awareness of an organization to the public. Pharmaceutical companies bring products to the markets that are intended to help people live better lives. Advertising is a relatively new phenomenon for pharmaceutical companies in the United States. “In 1985, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has the responsibility for safety regulations governing drugs, passed a ruling that allowed direct market to consumers on the condition that a great deal of warning information was provided

In conclusion, Direct to Consumer Advertising or DTCA, is a controversial method of advertising used to inform consumers about drug information. Due to this controversy, there are many opinions concerning how much DTCA should be regulated. For the past few decades, opinions about regulations has changed greatly. After considering the benefits and concerns regarding DTCA, we decided to take a legislative approach to DTCA. We came to this conclusion because DTCA is regulated by the FDA. Our goal was to take the first step towards banning DTCA. As a group, we acknowledged the fact that we can’t ban DTCA all together, but it was possible to get the word out and put the initial stages of a plan into action. We wrote advocacy letters for our legislatures

There are many direct to consumer advertising for prescription drugs. On television, magazines, radio etc, you see the most recent advertisements for prescription drugs. After some people see the advertisements they soon rush over to their doctor and their illness and life would be perfectly pain and stress free. Making the public conscious of options for treatment is not a bad thing. But these false advertisements are misleading consumers onto unnecessary treatment.

The screen fades in, the actor is portrayed in black and white with solemn expression on his face, his eyes pointed towards the ground as he speaks. Suddenly his “wife” walks up behind him and rubs his back, she suggests that he has a problem as a pharmaceutical name pops onto the screen. Promotion of pharmaceuticals to consumers is referred to as direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. In the United States, pharmaceutical suppliers are now the leading communicator of health information to the mass public. Whereas the FDA does oversee the distribution of such media, the question of consumer competency raises concern. Those who support these advertisements suggest the information is beneficial to the consumer. Such advertising does provide crucial

I think you bring up a very good idea about criminalizing drug advertisements. I do agree that the primary recipient of these advertisements do need to be the doctors. On the other hand I would not like to see this happen. I actually look for advertisements at certain times. My son has Adhd and to find the medicines that work or newly released medicines, I have to at times do research. If the doctors were the only ones to have the information, we would not be informed enough to make decisions regarding his care. I agree that their seems to be a pill for everything as this is a billion dollar industry .However, I can attest to the fact that with out my sons medicine ,he would not be able to be in a classroom setting in school .Many patients

Drug advertisements should be reviewed and pre-cleared by Health Canada in accordance with their mandates. They have to contain a “fair balance” of information be provided to consumers,[4] and require the disclosure of risks that are common and significant, as well as those that are rare but serious (for example, paralysis or death). Health Canada could impose a fee for this service to be paid by the pharmaceutical companies.

For most people hearing or seeing the advertisement first hand, has become commonplace. Direct to Consumer (DTC) advertising is one way pharmaceutical drug companies get their message to just about everyone, not to mention consumers. Whether direct to consumer advertisement harms or helps is unknown, since the effectiveness of the advertisement is also unknown. Though, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the advertisement of drugs is largely left up to the consumer to decide if they should believe the information presented is, first off reliable and secondly, if they should seek further information. That information, usually comes from the knowledge of a physician. However, with information at their fingertips through online sources, some delve in on their own efforts. In this report, DTC advertisement is questioned: of its effectiveness and of its usefulness. The reasons why both doctors and consumer think DTC advertisement is available and should this form of advertisement continue to be allowed in the public?

The best course of action, in protecting consumers of prescription medicine, would be to ban direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of these medications. Research has shown that DTC ads provide biased educational materials that promote medication over healthy alternatives (Stange, 2007). Conversations between the patient and health care provider revolve around DTC ads rather than the patient’s personal health. Discussing why the DTC drug is not the best option for the patient could result in decreased conversations about the patient’s behavior, family health history or recent patient health concerns. DTC advertisements create an environment through which patient vulnerability and fear of illness is manipulated and the selected drug serves as the best solution. These advertisements should encourage the patient to encourage communications between the patient and doctor on ways to become healthier; instead they foster a belief that drug dependency is a more viable solution than healthy behaviors. As of right now, only the United States and New Zealand do not ban the use of DTC ads (Stange, 2007).

Many drug companies lavish doctors with expensive dinners, vacations and even cash kickbacks all for a return of having doctors prescribe certain medications to their patients. Pharmaceutical companies have destroyed the faith that people once had in the medical field, due to the fact that drug manufactures are promoting their products to boost revenue rather then promoting products that will benefit a patient’s health. Therefore, these types of unethical tactics have caused doctors to improperly promote medications to patients that may not be beneficial to their health or their underlying

There is a controversy whether direct-to-consumers, or DTC for short, advertising, as one of the most effective forms of mass communications, should be more regulated than it is now. This debate does not seem to go end. I, however, argue that people need stronger regulations against many DTC advertisements in a pharmaceutical industry because they are usually manipulative and misleading to people. Many proponents of DTC advertising emphasize that it let consumers make educated decisions, and regulations against advertising are a violation of freedom of speech. Furthermore, some research studies agree to the idea that as DTC advertisements are both good and evil, we should not ban DTC advertisements. However, even though all researchers are not unanimous in the idea that DTC advertisements should be more regulated than they are now, the problem of their arguments is that regardless of the fact that DTC advertisements should mainly focus on consumers' health, they take advantage of consumers and make an unfair profit. Therefore, to reduce the number of consumers who are misled by indiscreet DTC advertisements, there should be a stronger regulation against the advertisements.

FDA 's position on regulation of drug promotion and advertising has undergone a very interesting pathway, and this is clearly reflected in the way they have enacted their regulations. This process has not been spontaneous but rather a result of extemporaneous pressure and events.

If you consume almost any form of media you will notice many different advertisements that inform you to ask your doctor if a certain pharmaceutical is right for you. You are inundated with advertisements for sleep aids, sexual disfunction drugs, drugs to treat depression, and weight loss pharmaceuticals. Even if you don’t watch TV, or read magazines, or even spend time online, billboards appear frequently in large cities and along the freeways that claim to want to make you a better you. The truth is pharmaceutical advertisements are everywhere. Well, that's not entirely true. Direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertisements (DTCPA) are only allowed in two developed countries; The United States and New Zealand. Why is that?