The Ethical Appropriateness Of Direct Consumer Advertising Of Drugs Essay

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).”

New Zealand is the only other developed nation in the world where prescription drugs are advertised directly to consumers. The American pharmaceutical industry used to abide by a term “ethical marketing,” meaning that drug companies could only market to physicians. On the other hand, there is a valid argument for allowing direct-to-consumer drug advertisements as the flow of information and transparency are beneficial. However, there obviously needs to be some checks and balances. This experiment began with a print advertisement in 1981 in Reader’s Digest and the first TV ad took place in 1983. At that time, the FDA had several rules in place requiring companies to offer a fair and balanced presentation. In sum, this was a responsible era of advertising.

Most countries don't allow drug companies to advertise directly to patients. In the United States, however, direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs is completely legal. The article "Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers?" questions the validity of this decision and provides several different examples of the advantages and disadvantages of DTC prescription drug ads. There are both positives and negatives associated with the advertising of prescription drugs.

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

Traditional doctors prescribe their patients all types of drugs to treat conditions and diseases. Most people trust their physicians to give them the best care possible, but many doctors prescribe and recommend medications based on their relationship with a company. Pharmaceutical companies pay doctors or even provide meals, in exchange for meetings and education. In an article from Time Magazine from September 18, 2014, Your Doctor Should Reveal Biases and Pharma Ties, Says Group, author Alexandra Sifferlin explains the issue with these relationships. Sifferlin uses ethos, logos, pathos, and links to respectable websites to convince readers that patients should be made aware by their physicians of ties pharmaceutical companies and their positions of controversial practices.

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

If prescription drugs were safe to be taken by most of the general public then they would be on local drug store shelves right now, but they aren’t. Furthermore, prescription drugs are often new, have not been tested long term, have serious side effects, a high likelihood of abuse by the average consumer, and require an evaluation of the patient by a physician. What the public sees is a cartoon sad face that’s suddenly smiling after taking this drug, with some side effects that happen to a few people, it is not an accurate representation of the drugs pros and cons. Additionally, the average consumer of prescription drugs does not possess the medical knowledge to decide what it is that they need, exactly why a provider's recommendation/prescription

The Pharmaceutical industry has been in the spotlight for decades due to the fact that they have a reputation for being unethical in its marketing strategies. In The Washington Post Shannon Brownlee (2008) states, “We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow.” This honorable statement is completely lost in today’s world of pharmaceutical marketing tactics. These tactics are often deceptive and biased. Big Pharma consistently forgets their moral purpose and focuses primarily on the almighty dollar. Big Pharma is working on restoring their reputation by reforming their ethical code of conduct.

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.

In the specific case that I used in my previous post Stefan P. Kruszewski was filing a law suit against pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca for their fraudulent actions of off-label marketing and promotional practices for its atypical antipsychotic drug, Seroquel (Page). I found that his action were morally motivated using Professor Bowie’s 5 major parts to moral justification form the Business Ethics text book. The consideration that Kruszewski gave the most consideration to is Obligation and Effects. In conclusion of the research on the case, the obligations factor that he took into account was based on that companies are obligated to advertise and use products for their approved purposes. Which he found AstraZeneca was non-compliant with and

Prescription drug advertisements have a negative impact on Americans by causing them to become hypochondriacs in a certain way. A hypochondriac is someone who believes and becomes obsessed with the idea that they have a serious condition that was and is undiagnosed. This problem continues to have a negative affect because it can lead to unnecessarily prescribing. Patients are going into their doctors and they are requesting to be put on these drugs because of the great affects that they have heard that they do for them. In the article, Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising, the author states that in a study done over this and the results were that, when these request were made at about 40 percent of doctor visits and during this time more

The corporate social responsibility states that "corporations can and should act ethically and be accountable to society for their actions." Pharmaceutical companies work to save lives and make a profit. Individuals should make sure that

As a well-educated consumer, it is up to us to make sure we do adequate research to ensure these advertisements we are being shown aren’t pulling our tail. Companies who do risqué marketing practices involving shady tactics, deceptive advertising, or biased targeted marketing towards age groups who can easily be taken advantage of are all easily considered unethical and morally wrong. Ethics, are the general principles of right and wrong. It is very important for businesses to have sound ethic practices to ensure they avoid legal trouble and media backlash. Morals, on the other hand, are what each individual find to be right and wrong, and their justifications and experiences that help them decide between the two.