Warning: Side Effects May Include Cynicism
Posted by Marcy Darnovsky February 13, 2008
Biopolitical Times
New Zealand and the U.S. are the only countries in the developed world that allow drug companies to peddle their prescription wares directly to the public. According to the Government Accountability Office, Big Pharma spent $4.2 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising in the U.S. during 2005 - and that already staggering sum is expanding at about 20% per year, which would put it at $7.25 billion in 2008. Lawmakers in several states have attempted to regulate or restrict the practice, mostly unsuccessfully.
Pharma is also eyeing other markets, and has mounted a major lobbying campaign to allow direct-to-consumer ads in Europe and Canada. Last week, the European Commission, which drafts legislation for the European Parliament, announced a public consultation [PDF] about a proposal to allow drug companies to put "non-promotional information" about prescription drugs on radio and television.
Consumers International, which is opposing Pharma's plans with a campaign called Marketing Overdose, had this to say:
Pharma is also eyeing other markets, and has mounted a major lobbying campaign to allow direct-to-consumer ads in Europe and Canada. Last week, the European Commission, which drafts legislation for the European Parliament, announced a public consultation [PDF] about a proposal to allow drug companies to put "non-promotional information" about prescription drugs on radio and television.
Consumers International, which is opposing Pharma's plans with a campaign called Marketing Overdose, had this to say:
By opening the debate on drug company information provision, the EC is kowtowing to pharma industry's demands to advertise directly to consumers. This is the first step towards US-style drug advertising and concepts such as 'Pharma TV'. Prescription drugs are not washing powders and should not be sold as such. The EC must protect the right of European consumers to independent, impartial information about healthcare.
Want a more scholarly assessment? A 2007 study in the Annals of Family Medicine concluded:
Despite claims that ads serve an educational purpose, they provide limited information about the causes of a disease or who may be at risk; they show characters that have lost control over their social, emotional, or physical lives without the medication; and they minimize the value of health promotion through lifestyle changes. The ads have limited educational value and may oversell the benefits of drugs in ways that might conflict with promoting population health.
The Marketing Overdose campaign has produced several short videos - some serious, some spoofs. The drug ads - clearly a tempting target - are also satirized by the U.S. Consumers Union, in the clip embedded here.
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