Healthy Skepticism Library item: 3678

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: report

Findlay S.
Prescription Drugs and Mass Media Advertising.
Washington, DC: National Institute of Health Care Management. 2000 Nov
http://web.archive.org/web/20080304043214/http://www.nihcm.org/publications/prescription_drugs

Abstract:

Summary of Key Findings
• A relatively small number of prescription drugs that were
advertised to the public in 2000 contributed significantly
to the increase in pharmaceutical spending in the U.S. from
1999 to 2000.
• Increases in the sales of the 50 drugs most heavily
advertised to consumers in 2000 were responsible for
almost half (47.8%) of the $20.8 billion increase in retail
spending on prescription drugs from 1999 to 2000.
Increases in the sales of all other prescription drugs
(numbering about 9,850 in the retail market) accounted
for 52.2% of the one-year rise in retail pharmaceutical
spending. (See Figures 2 and 5)
• Retail sales of the 50 most heavily advertised drugs rose
an aggregate 32% from 1999 to 2000, compared to 13.6%
for all other drugs combined. (See Figures 1 and 5)
• The number of prescriptions for the 50 most heavily
advertised drugs rose 24.6% from 1999 to 2000, compared
to an increase of 4.3% for all other drugs combined. (See
Figures 1 and 5)
• The top 50 most heavily advertised drugs had combined
sales of $41.3 billion in 2000, 31.3% of retail prescription
drug sales (of $131.9 billion) in 2000. (See Figure 5)
• Spending on mass media (also called “direct-to-consumer”
or DTC) advertising of prescription drugs rose 35% from
1999 to 2000 – from $1.8 billion to $2.5 billion. DTC ad
spending has more than doubled since 1997. (See Figure 8)
• TV ads accounted for the largest portion (57%) of the costs
of mass media prescription drug advertising. Spending
on TV ads increased to $1.4 billion in 2000 from $1.1 billion
in 1999, an increase of 27.3%. (See Figure 3)
• A few leading pharmaceutical companies sharply increased
their DTC ad spending in 2000. For example, Merck spent
117.7% more on DTC ads in 2000 than in 1999. Likewise,
Pfizer’s DTC spending almost doubled, from $126 million to
$250 million. (See Figure 6)
• The anti-arthritis drug Vioxx was the most heavily advertised
drug to consumers in 2000. Its maker, Merck, spent $160.8
million promoting the drug in the mass media. Retail sales
of Vioxx (approved in 1999) quadrupled from $329.5 million
in 1999 to $1.5 billion in 2000. (See Figure 5)
• Spending on DTC ads for prescription drugs accounted for
a relatively small share (15.7%) of all promotional spending
on prescription drugs in 2000. However, if the retail value
of drug “samples” (which doctors get free from companies)
is subtracted from total pharmaceutical promotional spend-
ing in 2000, DTC ads would account for almost 32% of
drug promotional spending in that year. (See Figure 3)