The Real Story Behind Direct To Consumer Drug Ads
We’ve all encountered one of those overly dramatic television or radio advertisements for prescription drugs. They usually show someone running through a field or planting in their garden, painting a picture of a person who’s life is complete because they use a certain prescription drug. Known as direct-to-consumer (DTC) ads, these ads are meant to provide consumers with necessary information regarding a prescription drug that might be of interest to them, instead of having to go through the doctor. Yet while doctors agree that such ads have raised medical awareness among patients, overall they fail to illustrate all of the benefits and potentially dangerous side effects of prescription drugs.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with monitoring the content of DTC prescription drug advertisements under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. It sets out regulations for the advertisements that are meant to ensure that the information they provide consumers is truthful, balanced and accurately communicated. The legislation gives the FDA the right to investigate, enforce, penalize or remove advertisements that fail to highlight all of the side-effects of a certain drug. However, even the FDA faces challenges in its attempts to filter DTC ads—the US Supreme Court holds the right to free speech and expression over most other rights, which gives drug companies leeway in their advertising methods.
According to surveys conducted by the FDA, most physicians believe that DTC advertisements have increased the number of patients who participate in their own healthcare, with more patients showing interest in understanding the side-effects of certain prescription drugs. While in the past, information on prescription drugs was concentrated in the hands of physicians and pharmacists, now consumers are given an opportunity to understand the drug options available to them. The downside of DTC advertising is that many of the advertisements do not discuss the benefits and side-effects of the prescription drug equally. Usually, the advertisement will spend time highlighting the benefits of the drug while rushing through the side-effects or printing them in a minuscule and difficult to read font. In order to make the potential negative side-effects clear, the FDA is now laying out regulations for the font size and clarity on print ads as well as the speed of speech on television and radio ads.
Hopefully, these regulations will be able to limit the amount of confusion and mixed messages prescription drugs ads are likely to cause, evening the playing field between drug company and drug consumer.
