Journal Article

Promotion of Prescription Drugs to Consumers

Epstein, Arnold M, Berndt, Ernst R, Donohue, Julie M, Rosenthal, Meredith B, Frank, Richard G

2002

Overview

Spending on direct-to-consumer advertising of drugs tripled between 1996 and 2000, when it reached $2.5 billion. The majority of this advertising is on television. Highly selected drugs are targeted for this form of advertising, and the intensity of such advertising may fluctuate markedly over time (antihistamines, for example, are advertised seasonally). Spending on pharmaceuticals has accelerated greatly in recent years and is now the fastest growing component of the health care budget. 1 Part of the growth in pharmaceutical spending is almost surely the result of an increase in the number of highly effective medications. There is widespread concern, however, that increased expenditures too often result from more advertising of drugs that do not provide more effective or efficient care. 2 Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs has become controversial. Proponents argue that such communication by the pharmaceutical industry leads to better-informed consumers and improved quality of care. Critics despair that direct-to-consumer advertising causes . . .

• Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society
• Subject: Advertising / Advertising as Topic - economics / Advertising as Topic - statistics & numerical data / Advertising as Topic - trends / Biological and medical sciences / Drug Industry - economics / Drug Industry - trends / Drug Prescriptions / Guidelines as Topic / Humans / Medical sciences / Pharmaceutical industries / Pharmaceutical Preparations - economics / Prescription drugs / Public health. Hygiene / Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine / United States / United States Food and Drug Administration