Doctors call for prescription drug advertising ban

[mvcg66b3r]

Drug companies should stop advertising directly to consumers, a major U.S. doctors group said Tuesday, declaring that the ads often push patients to more expensive treatments and inflate demand for therapies.

In a vote Tuesday at the group’s annual meeting in Atlanta, the American Medical Association called for an end to television commercials and magazine spreads that are used to pitch prescription drugs. It’s a change from the AMA’s previous position, which said the ads were fine as long as they were educational and accurate. The U.S. is one of the few countries that allow direct-to-consumer drug ads.

The vote “reflects concerns among physicians about the negative impact of commercially driven promotions, and the role that marketing costs play in fueling escalating drug prices,” AMA Board Chair-elect Patrice A. Harris said in a statement announcing the vote result. “Direct-to-consumer advertising also inflates demand for new and more expensive drugs, even when these drugs may not be appropriate.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...for-drug-advertising-ban-in-position-reversal

 

[b-turner]

I cannot say it would help the health of media for those ads to stop but I feel it greatly influences the decisions of the 'patient'. My boss is a doctor. He has to make decisions that are skewed by patients that insist on trying a certain drug. Quite frankly, a good doctor realizes every individual case requires a certain solution and when the patient wants a specific solution that may or may not be best for them, how far do you go with the opinion the customer is always right?

I had a radio boss who always let me try my ideas. Mostly they failed and I wound up doing what he suggested. He called it a learning process and smile really big and jokingly say 'that's why I'm the boss and you're not, but you're learning and that's good". I wonder how many patients get to try their decision versus the educated guess of the physician who knows they'll likely be back to willingly accept their solution.

On the opposite end of things, many doctors lack the time to stay up on all the solutions so the sales rep for the drug company ends up being the primary source of new information. The ads, while their intent is clear, might make the patient aware of other options.

 

[Silkie]

Ha - all the disclosures in the commercials just when the doctors are trying to keep the literature separate from the drug. One creates drugs they know will kill people - and tell them about all the harm they do, while the other one doesn't want them to know that the drugs are no good, and that the benefits probably don't outweigh the risks.