Medicine and Drugs - Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Marketing Essay

The Problems of Direct to Consumer pharmaceutic Marketing In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration relaxed its restrictions on direct-to-consumer trade of pharmaceuticals. Prior to this ruling, drug manufacturers were prohibited from mentioning both the name of the drug and its indications in consumer-directed advertisements without also including a large amount of technical information rough the drug, including all known side effects, contraindications, and dosage recommendations (Stevens, 1998). In addition to meddlesome with the appeal of the advertisements, such indispensablenesss rendered broadcast ads infeasible due to time constraints, and hindered ads in print media due to cost and space availability. These requirements were abolished in the 1997 FDA policy changes, and pharmaceutical companies were permitted to market drugs by name as treatments for specific conditions, with the minimal requirement that ads give mention to major risks identified in clinical trials (M elillo, 2001). As a result, manufacturer expenditures on direct-to-consumer advertising, which totaled $791 million in 1996, blush to $2.6 billion for the year 2000 (Mitchell, 2001). Television, radio, and print media became saturated with ads promoting treatments for conditions ranging from depression to high cholesterol. call such as Zoloft, Claritin, and Lipitor, which were previously known mostly to health professionals, rapidly became part of the national vocabulary. Consequently, spending on prescription drugs has increased significantly over the past several years as consumers are enticed to attempt advertised medications (HealthBizNews.com, 2001). This new face of drug marketing has sparked a barbarian debate about the accompanying e... ...e of drug advertising? Business Week. may 22, 2000. p52. Melillo, Wendy. Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertising Under Fire Senate to Determine if Such draw Hikes Prescription Costs. Adweek. May 21, 2001. Mitchell, Steve. Drug adv ertising raises concerns. www.msnbc.com. 2001. Miller, Susan. Rx view DTC Ads Provide the justifiedly Prescription. Brandweek. June 2 29, 1998. Selling Drugs. American Demographics. January, 1998. p. 26. Shapiro, Joseph and S. Schultz. Prescriptions How your doctor makes the choice. US News and human Report. February 19, 2001. p. 58. Stevens, Tim. To Your Health. Industry Week. September 7, 1998. p. 56. Subcommittee Hears Debate on Cosumer Drug Advertising. www.healthbiznews.com. 2000. Tanner, Lindsey. Health and cognition Doctors propose ban on drug advertising. Nando Times. www.nando.net. June 18, 2001.