Healthy Skepticism Library item: 13268
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: news
Prescription Drug Advertisements Prompt One-Third Of U.S. Adults To Ask Their Physician About A Medication, Survey Finds
Medical News Today 2008 Mar 5
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/99463.php
Full text:
Prescription drug advertisements prompt nearly one-third of U.S. adults to ask their physicians about an advertised medicine, and 82% of those who ask about drugs are given a prescription, according to a survey by USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard University School of Public Health, USA Today reports (Appleby [1], USA Today, 3/4). The telephone survey included responses from a nationally representative sample of 1,695 U.S. adults from Jan. 3 to Jan. 23 and has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points (USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health release, 3/4).
The survey found that among adults who requested a specific drug, 44% said physicians prescribed the one they asked for, slightly more than half said they were prescribed a different drug and, in some cases, they received prescriptions for both. When duplicate answers were removed, 82% of patients were given some type of prescription, the survey found.
The survey shows the percentage of U.S. adults who receive prescriptions after asking about an ad has increased since 2005, when 75% of adults who asked about drugs said their physicians recommended some type of drug. FDA began allowing drug makers to advertise directly to consumers on television in 1997. Spending on drug ads reached an all-time high of $4.8 billion in 2006, compared with $2.6 billion in 2002.
The survey also found that 47% of U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of the drug industry, compared with 44% who have an unfavorable opinion. Those with an unfavorable opinion cited high drug prices, large profits or company greed as the reason (Appleby [1], USA Today, 3/4). Among those with a favorable view of drug companies, 64% point to the quality of the drugs and research by the industry as a reason (USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health release, 3/4).
In addition, cost pressures have led 29% of U.S. adults to not fill a prescription in the past two years, and 23% have cut pills in half or skipped doses to make their medications last longer, according to the survey. The survey found that paying for drugs they need is at least somewhat of a problem for the families of 41% of adults.
Comments
Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said, “Our survey shows why the drug companies run all these ads: They work.” Altman added, “Many people get drugs they otherwise wouldn’t. While there’s a debate about whether that’s a good thing for patients, it does cost the country more.”
Billy Tauzin, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said many of those surveyed likely were reacting to insurance copayment increases rather than increasing drug prices. According to government data, drug prices increased by an average of 3.5% in 2006 over 2005 (Appleby [1], USA Today, 3/4).
The survey is available online(http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/pomr030408pkg.cfm).
Effects of Ads
Doctors and health care analysts have expressed concerns that drug ads prompt patients to seek the newest, most costly drugs, which helps drive up health care spending and raises “questions about whether patients need those particular new medications,” USA Today reports. According to a 2006 Government Accountability Office report, drug advertising “contributed to overall increases in spending on both the advertised drug itself and on other drugs that treat the same conditions.” The agency also cited another study that shows for every one dollar that drug companies spent on advertising, sales increased by a median of $2.20.
Endocrinologist John Buse said, “There are a lot of unmet needs in medicine. Does that mean these new drugs meet those needs? Not always,” adding, “Sometimes it’s just new, and you’re trading” side effects.
After Merck removed its heavily advertised COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx from the market in 2004, following reports of increased risk of heart attack and death, the drug industry developed guidelines to improve consumer information in ads. Tauzin said ads are now “less offensive than they were a few years ago, more educational, and they balance a discussion of benefits and risk” (Appleby [2], USA Today, 3/4).
