Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Direct to consumer drug ads paying off - for consumers
["Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and Physician Practice," Daily Policy Digest, NCPA, 5 May 2004.]
There is an ongoing debate over the benefit or harm arising from pharmaceutical firms advertising their products directly to consumers. Detractors claim that they have an undue influence on patients who should be deferring to their physician on such matters. Proponents point out that many who otherwise might not visit a doctor now do so because they saw an ad for a particular drug. Recent research calls the detractors' argument into question, while backing up that of the proponents.
One of the more controversial health care issues to emerge during the past decade is direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs. In 1997 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released guidelines that enabled broadcast advertising for drugs. The result was that DTCA more than doubled between 1997 and 2001 -- from $1.1 billion to $2.7 billion.
Does DTCA influence physician prescribing when patients requested a drug by name? According to a study in Health Affairs based on a survey of physicians:
- Physicians prescribed the requested DTCA drug in 39.1 percent of the cases, but were just as likely to recommend a lifestyle change (39.1 percent).
- Other actions doctors took included prescribing another drug (22.4 percent), referring the patients to a specialist (5.8 percent) or recommending a diagnostic test (9.3 percent).
- Interestingly, 12.2 percent of the time they recommended an over-the-counter drug.
When the DTCA drug was prescribed:
- Some 46.1 percent of physicians said it was the most effective drug, while 48.4 percent said it was as effective as other medications and wanted to accommodate their patient's request.
- Patient encounters with the physicians led to new treatment for conditions more than half the time.
["Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and Physician Practice," Daily Policy Digest, NCPA, 5 May 2004.]
There is an ongoing debate over the benefit or harm arising from pharmaceutical firms advertising their products directly to consumers. Detractors claim that they have an undue influence on patients who should be deferring to their physician on such matters. Proponents point out that many who otherwise might not visit a doctor now do so because they saw an ad for a particular drug. Recent research calls the detractors' argument into question, while backing up that of the proponents.
One of the more controversial health care issues to emerge during the past decade is direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs. In 1997 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released guidelines that enabled broadcast advertising for drugs. The result was that DTCA more than doubled between 1997 and 2001 -- from $1.1 billion to $2.7 billion.
Does DTCA influence physician prescribing when patients requested a drug by name? According to a study in Health Affairs based on a survey of physicians:
- Physicians prescribed the requested DTCA drug in 39.1 percent of the cases, but were just as likely to recommend a lifestyle change (39.1 percent).
- Other actions doctors took included prescribing another drug (22.4 percent), referring the patients to a specialist (5.8 percent) or recommending a diagnostic test (9.3 percent).
- Interestingly, 12.2 percent of the time they recommended an over-the-counter drug.
When the DTCA drug was prescribed:
- Some 46.1 percent of physicians said it was the most effective drug, while 48.4 percent said it was as effective as other medications and wanted to accommodate their patient's request.
- Patient encounters with the physicians led to new treatment for conditions more than half the time.
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