Are Drug Ads Aimed at Consumers a Public Service?
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2003-06-25 15:52:28
Yes
Drug ads close 'information gap'
By John E. Calfee
The payoff from the scientific revolution in biology is here, in the form of powerful new drugs for arthritis, heart disease, diabetes and other diseases. But new drugs and new research on how to use them have been arriving so quickly that patients and doctors have trouble keeping up. Recently, the National Cholesterol Education Program (run by the National Institutes of Health) issued a new report on reducing cholesterol.
The good news is that the modern generation of cholesterol-lowering drugs (such as Pravachol®, Zocor® and Lipitor®) are saving thousands of lives. But the bad news is that only about one-third of the people who would benefit from these drugs are actually taking them, because too many people are not getting their cholesterol checked and too many doctors are failing to prescribe the drugs when they should.
Cholesterol treatment isn't the only problem. Another report noted that 20 percent of 65-year-olds and half of 80-year-olds are at risk for broken bones caused by treatable—but untreated—osteoporosis. Other reports lament the millions of people who are suffering from diabetes, asthma, depression, obesity, hypertension and other serious conditions but are not getting diagnosed and treated, despite the availability of useful drugs.
In other words, there is an information gap in health care, and the victims are patients, especially the elderly. The best tool for closing this gap is advertising. Economic research has consistently shown that advertising improves markets, bringing better informed buyers and better products. Now advertising is doing the same thing for prescription drugs. A 1999 survey by the Food and Drug Administration found that consumers use ads to get essential information about both the risks and benefits of drugs. Twenty-seven percent said ads caused them to talk to their doctors about conditions they never discussed before. On the other hand, the survey found that only about 4 percent of consumers have had bad experiences with their doctors when they talked about the drugs they see in ads.
Direct-to-consumer advertising is here to stay, and that is a good thing for AARP members.
John E. Calfee is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Washington, and author of "Prices, Markets and the Pharmaceutical Revolution" (AEI press, 2000).
No
Drug ads 'a tool to sell a product'
By Nancy Chockley
Touted as a valuable source of information for consumers, prescription drug ads are first and foremost a tool to sell a product. The ads do prompt some people to go to their doctor's offices, and that's usually good. But they are not primarily intended to benefit the public's health.
The information in drug ads is neither substantive nor objective, and it is presented to influence decisions rather than truly inform. Drug ads downplay the limitations or side effects of a drug. Nor do they usually mention lifestyle or behavioral changes that could prevent disease, supplement drug therapy or alone produce greater benefits than the advertised drug.
Ads prompt consumers to seek the advertised treatment, not necessarily the most effective treatment. What's most worrisome is that mass media drug ads may be prompting consumers to hone in on the advertised treatment, just as they seek other advertised products.
We don't yet know whether drug ads are leading to inappropriate prescribing. But we do know that drug ads are inducing significant consumer demand for advertised drugs. In one recent survey, 1 in 4 people who talked to their doctor after seeing a drug ad asked for the drug. Seventy percent got it. In 2000, retail sales of the 50 drugs most heavily advertised to consumers rose 32 percent. In contrast, sales of all other prescription drugs (more than 9,800) rose 14 percent.
Consumers need better, more balanced information in order to engage in a genuinely informed discussion with their doctors. The American Medical Association, an organization of physicians, suggests adding a disclaimer to the ads: "Your physician may recommend other appropriate treatments." That would help level the playing field and encourage physicians and patients to discuss all their treatment options.
Prescription drugs help millions of Americans live normal, productive lives, yet they are unique consumer products. They have the potential for great benefit as well as serious harm. We need to ensure that the influence of Madison Avenue does not replace the judgment of our doctors.
Nancy Chockley is the founding president of the National Institute for Health Care Management Research and Educational Foundation.
preview