Healthy Skepticism Library item: 2389

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: Journal Article

Pitts , P. J.
Turning point or tipping point: new FDA draft guidances and the future of DTC advertising
Health Aff 2004 Jan; Suppl Web Exclusives:W4-259-61

Abstract:

According to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) research, direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug ads are not as empowering as they were even three years ago. How will the FDA’s new draft guidances reverse this trend and affect the future of DTC advertising? Will they be a turning point, resulting in pharmaceutical companies’ embracing an educational public health imperative, or a tipping point with politicians and the public zeroing in on aggressively targeted DTC ads as the postimportation pharmaceutical bete noire? The FDA believes that its new guidances strengthen the strategic argument that a better-informed consumer lays the groundwork for a better potential customer.