Healthy Skepticism Library item: 20133

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

Humphreys L
King out to stop TV ads for products like Viagra
The Daily News 2000 Aug 26

Full text:

Health Minister Annette King intends halting the advertising of drugs such as Xenical and Viagra on television.

Mrs King voiced her opposition to direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies at a public health meeting in New Plymouth last week.

She said she expected to restrict such advertising through legislation within the next year.

The advertising put huge pressure on the health professional to provide the drugs which might be totally unsuitable for the patient, she said, and there was often a better alternative drug or treatment.

Only two countries in the world, the United States and New Zealand, allowed direct-to-consumer advertising, Mrs King said.

The Research Medicines Industry of New Zealand, which represents many pharmaceutical companies, said yesterday it had carried out a lot of work on the effects of the advertising and had found real medical benefits.

The advertising was growing so rapidly it was obviously causing concern in some quarters and had lead to an emotional response, RMI communications manager Crystal Beavis, Wellington, said.

Up until last month, 17 medicines had been advertised on television, including those for asthma, high blood pressure, hair loss, osteoarthritis and hepatitis.

The cost of TV ads for branded prescriptions reached $10 million in the year to February 20 this year, a 115% increase on the previous year, she said.

RMI was hopeful that the advice given to the minister would be dispassionate. “I would be disappointed she is coming to it with a preconceived notion, because there would be a lot of benefit in looking at this whole issue dispassionately.

“If we look at this sensibly and if health officials, pharmacists, doctors, pharmacy companies, patient groups and others work together we can harness the commercial incentive to advertise for the good of public health in New Zealand”.

Medical literature spelled out major under-treatment and under-diagnosis for many ailments.

The industry saw the advertising as effective in reaching many hard to reach patients, such as men, Maori and Pacific islanders, who might not normally go to doctors and might not have recognised the need.

“We believe there is a genuine market and a genuine need for these medicines”, Ms Beavis said.
“This is a medium that gets to people who need information”, she said.

Roche New Zealand group manager Justin Fogarty, Auckland, argued yesterday for freedom of choice for the consumer if they wanted to purchase weight-control drug Xenical.

Roche, which developed the drug, said the advertising gave people an opportunity to find out more about the drug.

Last month, Roche took the supreme honour at the Television New Zealand awards for the Xenical campaign.

Health watchdog magazine Nexus said this month the Australian Consumers Association opposed such ads. Direct-to-consumer advertising is banned in Australia. The association claimed the consumer-directed ads did not provide sufficient details on the drugs or their side-effects.

*Tomorrow the first anti-smoking pill available in New Zealand will be unveiled in a television advertising campaign by Glaxo Wellcome for a product called Zyban.