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Ad Fad |
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Sandwiched
in between the car advertisement and the
all-day mascara ad in your magazine is an
ad with a
big yellow sun that promises help.
Your world will be better not only with longer, fuller lashes or a drive along a coastal highway, but with Prozac, America’s choice for depression. |
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By
Chris Schreiber
These days, candy bars and computers are sharing advertising print space and air time with non-drowsy antihistamines and cholesterol-lowering drugs. Ovaltine for breakfast is out. Muse for impotence is in. And the trend may be just beginning, as prescription drugs are being marketed to the public in earnest for the first time. In campaigns called direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, pharmaceutical companies are spending millions to create name recognition outside the medical field. Advertising officials expect the industry to spend more than $1 billion in DTC advertising this year, up from $800 million in 1997 and only $160 million in 1994. Is it working? The data available on the success of DTC is private, said Susan Dietrich, a spokesperson with IMS America, a research group that tracks the industry. But look no further than the bottom line: U.S. pharmaceutical sales were up almost 12 percent last year to $94 billion. To educate or sell? Pharmaceutical companies have dabbled with DTC advertising since the early 1980s, but restrictions on the ads’ content limited their effectiveness. So when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) loosened its policy last August to allow companies to mention afflictions and the name of the drug designed to treat them in television ads, companies rushed eagerly into the medium. Drugs like Allegra, an antihistamine, began to pop up in prime time television commercial spots once occupied by car commercials. Now, instead of the standard "tax and license not included" disclaimer at the end of car ads, it’s "some side effects include …" at the end of prescription drug ads. Drug makers say DTC campaigns educate consumers. "Consumers and patients in the 1990s have signaled that they want to be empowered, they want to have control, and they want to have information," said Jeff Trewhitt, spokesperson for the American Pharmaceutical Association. DTC "is a very detailed form of education—it is satisfying their desire to have this information." Drug companies offer a public service by advertising, said Jan Weiner, executive director of public affairs for Merck & Co. Inc., the nation’s top-selling pharmaceutical company. "One of the things that is abundantly clear is that consumers want information about diseases and the treatment of diseases," Weiner said. "Our ads are targeted to stimulate the consumer to talk to his physician about the disease and the treatment of the disease. They are not targeted to go in and ask for ‘x’ product that we make." Merck spent $115 million in 1997 on DTC advertising, second to Glaxo Wellcome’s $148 million. "Of course we are hoping for a benefit as a result of doing the ads. If there were not a return on investment, companies would not be advertising," Weiner said. The fact that drug companies are motivated by profits concerns some consumer groups, who call for stricter regulation of DTC advertising. Currently, the FDA requires all television ads to refer consumers to three alternative sources of information—a toll-free phone number, an Internet address, and print material. "But it isn’t enough," said Larry D. Sasich, PharmD, MPH, research analyst at the Public Citizen Health Research Group in Washington, D.C., an industry watchdog. "There is a clear distinction between advertising and education. There is no question patients have more information than they did before, but it is incomplete. They have no comparative information about other nondrug treatments." Sasich says that though increased patient knowledge is a benefit of the DTC approach, it can also mean added pressure on physicians to prescribe a well-known drug instead of comparable drugs in the same category. But John Kamp, senior vice president for the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said heavy advertisers have not increased their market shares on specific products. However, prescription sales for the overall product category—for competitors as well as the company doing the advertising—do rise, he said. Health workers’ responsibility What is undisputed is the added responsibility placed on physicians, who may be pressured by patients to prescribe certain drugs, and other health professionals, who are fielding more patient questions. The FDA is comfortable with the physician-as-gatekeeper mentality. "You can’t have the drug without a prescription," said Laura Bradbard, a public affairs specialist for the FDA. "We would definitely trust the doctor to determine whether or not the drug was needed." Not everyone agrees with the FDA, however. Brian Doyle, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, says the worst case scenario may parallel the historic overprescription of antibiotics. Even though antibiotics aren’t directly marketed, the public continues to demand often unnecessary prescriptions for them. Ultimately, it’s a health professional’s responsibility to fill in the gaps when patients come in with incomplete information, said Jan Towers, PhD, NPC, CRNP, director of governmental affairs, practice, and research for the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. "I think it makes us all stay on our toes. They come in and say, ‘Oh, I read this in Ladies Home Journal’ or wherever, and ask us about it. It’s our job to know." |
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SITES mentioned in story American Academy of Nurse Practitioners American Association of Advertising Agencies |
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