thinking about prescription drug advertising

The Wall Street Journal Health blog wrote a piece yesterday about Consumers International, and the spoof they have produed of a prescription drug advertisement. The blog is here: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/02/05/striving-for-an-antidote-to-drug-marketing/.

And the video is here:


Consumers International and their web site http://www.marketingoverdose.org/ raise some important questions about prescription drug advertising. The group raises some important points about the relationship between drug companies and patient organizations and the lack of transparency in these relationships.

I hesitate to rule these drug advertisements out altogether. I still continue to believe that these advertisements can be a valuable tool to help patients articulate questions and initiate conversations with their doctors. And more involved patients ultimately have better outcomes because they understand their treatment and care. But these ads can be potentially problematic when consumers do not understand the limitations of the advertisements and do not understand that these drugs have risks. These problems require better education and awareness about the pharmaceutical industry and meaningful conversations between patients and health providers.

There is clearly a desire from health consumers for information about drugs, devices and treatments that can improve their health. But the information pharaceutical companies is slanted to paint the drug in a positive light. Is biased information potentially useful for health consumers, even if it only helps consumers ask more questions? Or is it time to start thinking about turning back the clock and returning to a time without direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising?