Direct to Consumer Advertising of prescription only drugs (DTCA)

This page contains links to reports on Direct To Consumer Advertising and related issues that are not indexed by Medline nor published by Scrip or Health Action International.  We include all relevant reports that we are aware of regardless of whether we agree with them or not. If you are aware of any reports that could be added please contact robyn@healthyskepticism.org 

The Health Action International website section on DTCA is highly recommended:
 www.haiweb.org/campaign/DTCA/index.html 

Reports are reproduced under the fair use doctrine of international copyright law:
www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html 

Some of the links below are to PDF files so you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read them. 
If you do not already have it then you can download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free.

Home: www.healthyskepticism.org 

Recommended websites:

Canadian Health Coalition DTCA Page

HAI Europe's Campaign on Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Medicines

2003

• Peter R Mansfield Action on prescription drug promotion to the public Healthy Skepticism International News  2003 March; 21: 3

• US FDA. Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs: Physician Survey Preliminary Results 13 January 2003

2002

• United States General Accounting Office. FDA Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Has Limitations. Report to Congressional Requesters GAO-03-177 October 2002

   

• TARA PARKER-POPE Latest Craze in Coupon-Clipping: Free Trials for Prescription Drugs  Wall Street Journal HEALTH JOURNAL  April 16, 2002

• MS Word file: Multiple Canadian reports in response the British Medical Journal edition about medicalisation and DTCA April 12-16, 2002

• Daniel DeNoon Are Drug Companies Making Us Sick? WebMD Medical News April 12, 2002

• Charles Gordon TV drug ads are tough to swallow The Ottawa Citizen March 30, 2002

• Glen McGregor Ban on drug ads to stay: McLellan - Minister refuses to loosen regulations despite lobbying by manufacturers, media The Ottawa Citizen Saturday, March 23, 2002

• HEALTH-LITERATE PATIENTS – AN ASSET TO SOCIETY European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) 19 March 2002

• VANESSA FUHRMANS and GAUTAM NAIK European Drug Makers May Utilize More Aggressive Marketing Tactics THE WALL STREET JOURNAL March 15, 2002

• Quick Take: New study finds DTC drive to Web yields new prescribers www.eyeforpharma.com March 12, 2002

• THOMAS M. BURTON Backlash Rises Against Flashy Ads For Prescription Pharmaceuticals THE WALL STREET JOURNAL March 13, 2002

• Ottawa must protect public from drug ads The Toronto Star Mar. 8, 2002

• MELODY PETERSEN TV Ads Spur a Rise in Prescription Drug Sales  New York Times March 8, 2002

• Erica Johnson et al. Direct to Consumer Advertising Marketplace (Television program) Canadian Broadcasting Corporation February 27, 2002 

• Ceci Connolly Drug Marketers Focus on Doctors: Consumer Ads Up -- but Still Secondary Washington Post February 14, 2002; Page E02

• JOHN HEINZL Drug makers said to skirt Canadian restrictions on ads Globe and Mail (Canada) Print Edition, Page B1 February 12, 2002

• Christina Spencer. Editorial: Everyone gets to know about prescriptions -- except the patient The Ottawa Citizen Monday, February 11, 2002

• RON WINSLOW Black Doctors See Drug Ads As Beneficial for Minorities THE WALL STREET JOURNAL April 11, 2002

• HAI DTCA statement Health Action International 10 February 2002

• Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Pharmaceuticals NCSL (National Conference of State Legislatures, USA) February 5, 2002

• ANDRé PICARD Patients requesting advertised drugs GLOBE AND MAIL Canada February 2, 2002

• 68% of Canadians Support Direct to Consumer Advertising for Prescription Medications Ipsos-Reid February 1, 2002

• Ian Jack Majority wants drug ads legalized, poll shows National Post Friday, February 1, 2002 Financial Post: (Canada) page FP4

• B. Mintzes, M.L. Barer, A. Kazanjian, K. Bassett, R.G. Evans, S. Morgan. An Assessment of the Health System Impacts of Direct-To-Consumer Advertising of  Prescription Medicines (DTCA). (Full report in English in 5 volumes with Résumé en français) Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia  February 2002

• B. Mintzes, M.L. Barer, A. Kazanjian, K. Bassett, R.G. Evans, S. Morgan. An Assessment Of The Health System Impacts Of Direct-To-Consumer Advertising Of Prescription Medicines (DTCA): Executive Summary Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia  January 2002

• Shelley Page. Drug ads: Saving lives, or selling snake oil? The Ottawa Citizen 28 Jan 2002 page A11

• Matthew Fraser Drugs, ads and the 'direct' debate: Broadcasters want ability to peddle brand name drugs  Financial Post (Canada) January 21, 2002

• Benjamin Errett. What does it do? Um ... ask your doctor. Canadian drug ads: Laws allow information or a product's name, but not both. National Post (Canada) January 2002

• Dorette Corbey Patient doesn’t benefit from direct-to-consumer advertising Opinion page NRC Handelsblad  January 2002 p. 917

• NEWS FROM HAI-EUROPE AND THE EUROPEAN PUBLIC HEALTH ALLIANCE. DEBATE OPENS ON DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER DRUG PROMOTION IN EUROPE. PRESS RELEASE BRUSSELS 11 January 2002

• European 'Direct-to-Consumer' Drug Information Plans May Face Opposition. Reuters Health Jan 10, 2002 

• Pauline Norris Talking the Talk Prescriber Update No.23 (1) January 2002 
  (A New Zealand survey conducted to determine the level of understanding of some common medicine-related terms found that many people do not know the meaning of words such as hypertension and decongestant.)

• Direct-To-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising National Health Council (USA) January 2002

 2001

• Survey Finds DTC Ads Good for Communicating Basic Information. Reuters Health Nov 29, 2001

• New Reports Show Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and Trends in Prescription Drug Spending and Utilization. Kaiser Family Foundation 29 November 2001

• PhRMA Misinformation on Direct-To-Consumer Marketing. RxPolicy.com November 25, 2001 

• Bob Burton. Selling drugs---with a little help from a journalist. BMJ 2001;323 1258

• David Carvel. A complaint about drug company advertising. BMJ 2001;323 1259

• ED SILVERMAN. Consumers buy what drug firms pitch: Top promoted medicines lead increase in sales. STAR-LEDGER (New Jersey, USA) Nov 21, 2001

• MELODY PETERSEN. Increased Spending on Drugs Is Linked to More Advertising. New York Times November 21, 2001

• NIHCM (US) Prescription Drugs and Mass Media Advertising, 2000 November 2001

• ALAN CASSELS The new drug pushers: Hawking drugs directly to the consumer is new advertising trend. Montreal Gazette November 09, 2001

• Peter R Mansfield. We can win against DTCA. Healthy Skepticism International News September/October 2001  Vol 19  No 9/10   

• Rory Watson. Consumer groups fight plans for "direct to patient" drug advertisements. BMJ 2001;323:889 ( 20 October )

• Rhonda Galbally Review of Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Legislation Final Report Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia) 16 October 2001

• Amy Norton. Magazine Drug Ads Deemed Too Vague Reuters Health October 5, 2001

• Ann Silversides. Looser ad rules a headache for drug plans. Direct-to-consumer advertising will send costs soaring, employers warn. The Globe and Mail.  September 18, 2001

• Ann Silversides. Ottawa assailed for reinterpreting ad law. 'Reminder' and 'help-seeking' promotions reflect new marketplace: Health Canada. The Globe and Mail.  September 18, 2001

• Amanda Sheddan. Big tick for tighter DTC advertising rules. New Zealand Doctor 29th August 2001 page 4

• Jayson Blair. Healthy Skepticism and the Marketing of AIDS. New York Times AUG 05, 2001

• Ann Silversides. Health Canada "reinterprets" laws about prescription drug ads for consumers. Straightgoods  June 11, 2001

• Mary Byrne Drug makers to operate in a new market  Australian Financial Review Mar 14 2001

• David Noonan. GM's War on Drug Costs. Newsweek U.S. Edition Page: 46 February 26, 2001

2000

• NIHCM (National Institute for Health Care Management, USA) Prescription Drugs and Mass Media Advertising. Research Brief. September 2000

1999

• Phil Galewitz. Study: Drugmaker Ads Can Backfire. AP  June 17, 1999

• Mark Ragg. Capsule or pill, don't swallow it whole: Pharmaceutical firms are not always reliable sources of information. Weekend Australian March 27-28, 1999 pages 30-31

1998

• Barbara Mintzes. BLURRING THE BOUNDARIES: New trends in drug promotion. HAI 1998

1988

• Ethical Criteria for Medicinal Drug Promotion World Health Organization, Geneva 1988
  Resolution WHA41.17 adopted by the Forty-first World Health Assembly, 13 May 1988

The following reports written by Peter R Mansfield, Director, Healthy Skepticism are in MS Word format.  If you are asked for authentication just cancel.

Report on DTC pharmaceutical promotion for Pharmacy Guild of Australia

Report on DTC pharmaceutical promotion for PHARMAC

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