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The Pros And Cons Of Direct-To-Consumer Advertisements

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Every year in the United States, billions of dollars are spent towards advertisements for the pharmaceutical industry. As of 2016, 5.6 billion dollars were spent on Direct-to-Consumer advertisements. For decades, prescription drug makers only relied on health care providers to accurately inform patients of prescription drugs and how to safely use them. However, that has now changed and prescription drug producers started targeting consumers directly, which is only allowed in the United States and New Zealand. According to Ken Johnson, Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, “Direct-to-consumer advertisements informs patients potentially suffering from disease and raises their awareness of treatment options” …show more content…

Direct-to-Consumer advertisements should be banned from the United States because they weaken the relationship between patients and health care providers, misinform patients, promote drugs before long-term safety information is known, and increases health care costs.
Direct-to-Consumer advertisements are defined as “an effort made by a pharmaceutical company to promote its prescription products directly to patients” (Ventola para. 2). DTC advertisements are responsible for 12% of the increase in prescription drug sales. Pharmaceutical manufacturers use several types of promotions for a specified medication; such as detailing, sampling, DTC advertisements, and medical journal advertising. Detailing which accounts for 29% of the spending in the pharmaceutical …show more content…

Medicine and marketing has driven our society to a whole another level in which one thinks that a certain medication is the answer to all of one’s problem, when lifestyle changes or different alternatives could be the solution to their problems. DTC ads have broken the link between the patient and healthcare provider by advertising medications out to the public when only doctors should be the only one to have and release prescription medications that they fit based to the patient’s need. As a country, one should work on reestablishing the patient to health care provider relationship, as it once was. Without a doubt, drugs are both harmful and beneficial by relieving one from pain when sick yet prompting society to rely too much on medicine by seeking a pill for every illness. Introducing new medication to the public without knowing the safety of it puts many lives at stake and the public is yet to know that the FDA does not know if all the medication is safe for them to take. According to Kurt Stange, professor of family medicine and community health, “[t]here is no evidence that consumer ads improve treatment quality or result in earlier provision of needed care” (para. 3). So, if DTC ads are not making treatment quality better, how are DTC ads helping in our

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The cost of RX drug ads are funded through the actual drug, having the largest impact on patients who actually need and rely on the product. Patients suffer the most through the increase in prices, and are still bombarded by the ads everyday when consuming overpriced products that some need to survive. To add on, RX drug ad companies find ways through advertising to maximize their profit and not focus on the actual drug. RX drug ads are fueled through the want for increasing profits, regardless if consumers actually need the product, while having billions earned in revenue. StatNews’ article, Drug Industry Braces for an Attack on TV Ads, even “Gut Guy” states that the drug industry spends around $5 billion a year on DTC ads with big pharma left to pay taxes on the expenses, raising up to $50 billion

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Although the public acknowledges value in the drugs available through pharmaceutical providers, the corporate social responsibilities (CSR) and business ethicality of the industry has been compromised and questioned (Gorrie and Santoro, 2005). Furthermore, the increasing complicity and costs of health care have only served to add strain to the public’s ability to empathise with criticism targeting the industry. Such negative perceptions fuelled by the unscrupulous marketing strategies pharmaceutical companies employ has hampered reasonable progress in the industry (Archie, 2009).

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Advertising features information that the consumers need to make informed decisions about their health (Connors, 2009). It is by being exposed to information related to a prescription drug that patients are able to have options that are not limited to those that their physicians can provide them. DTC marketing allows the consumers to be involved in their medication, which they can better do if the needed resources are readily

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According to Paul Antony, DTCA aids consumers because it helps them recognize symptoms and their increases communication between doctors and patients. He states that consumers that advertisements empower them to seek out their doctor (para 3,10). However, advertisements are often emotional and misleading. This type of advertisements causes patients to urge their doctors to prescribe them a specialty drug because they notice they have a symptom. Doctors then would have to comply which can end up being more harmful to the patient.

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Although DTC has created a generation of consumers who are more informed of the drugs available to them, it has also created customers who try to self-diagnose their medical conditions. Drug companies use advertisements to sell their products directly to desperate consumers by persuading people thinking that they expensive brand-name drugs sold by these companies. I believe DTC marketing is very biased, and this is based on the fact that the materials do not show the whole story about the medication being advertised. They instead use the emotions of the consumer to purchase the products. Physicians attempt to promote healthy behaviors and screen for early stages of illnesses, but DTC ads undermine those efforts

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Imagine a world with too much advertisements. The truth is, you may already be living in it. Sure, advertising may have some benefits for people, but it also has some serious negative effects. Specifically towards children’s safety and health. Marketing companies are spending billions of dollars trying to get kids to buy their merchandise and as more marketing companies get persistent with these ads, the children may be getting harmed in that process.

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The television ads overemphasize by a long shot or by a tiny bit but even just a little ingredient. “Among other areas, this law specifically addresses prescription drug advertising. This law requires that advertisements for prescription drugs be accurate and not misleading.” (source 2) The advertisements contain misleading and false information. They contain misleading information because they want people to purchase their medication so the producers can get more money ¨Part of the mission of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) is to ensure that companies that sell prescription drugs also provide information that is truthful, balanced, and accurately described.¨ (source

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Consumers all over the country are buying products thinking that it offers one thing, but really it is something different. “A "health claim" by definition has two essential components: (1) a substance (whether a food, food component, or dietary ingredient) and (2) a disease or health-related condition,” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). If a health claim is advertised falsely, consumers will believe the claim and buy the product. “A statement lacking either one of these components does not meet the regulatory definition of a health claim,” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). If the statement lacks a component, the information might not be valid.

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I. Introduction A. Social Problem(s)/Significance (why should we care?) There are 195 countries in the entire world, and direct- to- consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) is only found in two—the United States and New Zealand. Since 1997, pharmaceutical companies have been allowed to advertise their products directly to the public via radio and television, with the stipulation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the advertisements not be misleading (Ventola 2011). Those in favor of DTCPA argue that the general public is entitled to know all of the pros and cons of the medications on the market, and the increase in money that results from the increase in sales from DTCPA funds the research and development of new medications

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In 2015, the pharmaceutical industry spent approximately $5.2 billion on advertising directly to consumers. While advertising can encourage individuals to seek treatment for untreated medical conditions, DTC ads often overemphasize the benefits of the drug they are marketing thereby misinforming patients who are in need of medical attention. DTC ads tend to leave out important information substituting a generic statement such as “For more information, ask your healthcare provider.” These ads often increase prescription drug costs because patients will specifically request the brand name drug they have seen advertised not knowing there is a generic version available or believing that the brand name is more effective due to the advertisement. The increase in DTC advertisement has also increased the use of medication to treat conditions that can be managed by lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise.

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However, there is a large gap between informing and exploiting that the majority of those hearing or watching these advertisements overlook. During the 20th century, advertisers replaced morality for profit by dismissing the detrimental effects of cigarettes “despite an expanding awareness of health risks and increasing advertising restrictions.” (Source B) Exceeding past the cigarette industry, it is not uncommon for advertisements to target a broad, generalized group of people in the attempt to create a sense of dissatisfaction that only a product could satisfy, whether it be a Marlboro or otherwise. To do so, advertisers must omit the gritty bits of their product and, instead, implode it with marketing strategies and persuasive procedures that disillusion the public from the harm they are placing themselves in. Using classic

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