DIRECT TO CONSUMER ADVERTISING (DCTA) IN THE HEALTH CARE FIELD
Thomas E Wallace III
Pharm.D. Candidate Class of 2020, School of Pharmacy, University of Saint Joseph, Hartford, CT, USA, 060103.
ABSTRACT
In 2017, many people are regularly getting their health information from one or more forms of technology: television, the internet, or social media. While direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs is legal in the United States, with some research pointing to improved provider/patient relationships, many in the healthcare fields think it should be banned. Those against DTCA argue that it leads to misinformed/confused patients who request prescriptions drugs from their provider that they may not need. Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers, or should advertising information be kept strictly to licensed healthcare providers?
Abbreviations:DCTA, Direct to Consumer Advertising
1.1 INTRODUCTION
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Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medications is one of the legal forms in the United States. With the research pointing to improved provider/patient relationships, many healthcare fields believe it should be banned. An argument against DTCA of prescription medications is that it leads patients to be misinformed or confused, resulting in requests of prescription drugs from their providers that aren’t needed. The ongoing argument that DTC pharma advertising leads consumers to request medication for conditions they do not have, or conditions that do not exist, may have some truth to it5. Regardless of the debate at hand, direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) has grown rapidly during the past several decades and is now the most prominent type of health communication that the public
In Melody Peterson’s “Our Daily Meds” , the history of marketing and advertising in the pharmaceutical industry is explored. The first chapter of the book, entitled “Creating disease”, focuses on how major pharmaceutical companies successfully create new ailments that members of the public believe exist. According to Peterson, the success that these drug manufacturers have experienced can be attributed to the malleability of disease, the use of influencial people to promote new drugs, the marketing behind pills, and the use of media outlets.
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing of pharmaceuticals has grown increasingly in the past decade. The American public views prescription drug advertising for a wide range of medical conditions, including high cholesterol, depression, allergies, and erectile dysfunction. The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the content of these advertisements. Critics also have taken the position that the advertisements garner unearned trust from the public, are misleading, and promote unnecessary use of prescription drugs for common problems associated with aging. Proponents counter that DTC ads help eliminate stigmas associated with certain medical conditions, give patients an active role in their health care management, and encourages the doctor/patient relationship. There have been calls for bans on DTC pharmaceutical advertising, but the practice is protected under a business’s right to free speech. Regulation changes, particularly requiring the FDA to pre-approve marketing campaigns before they are released to the public, may be one way to appease opponents, while protecting the rights of pharmaceutical manufacturers to advertise to the average American consumer.
In America today, many people are in need of medical help. In fact,the Federal Trade Commission estimates that 75% of the population complain of physical problems (Federal Trade Commission 9). They complain, for example, of fatigue, colds, headaches, and countless other "ailments." When these symptoms strike, 65% purchase over-the counter, or OTC, drugs. In order to take advantage of this demand, five billion dollars is spent by the pharmaceutical industry on marketing each year . This marketing, usually in the form of advert...
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising refers to one of the marketing strategies in a pharmaceutical industry. As pharmaceutical products directly affect people's lives and health, many industrialized countries ban DTC advertisements; the United States and New Zealand are the only industrialized countries that allow DTC advertising of prescription medicines. However, there is a controversy over whether DTC advertising, as one of the most effective forms of mass communication, should be more regulated than it is now. This debate is ongoing. This research argument, however, contends that people need stronger regulations against many DTC advertisements in the pharmaceutical industry because they are usually manipulative and misleading to people.
Direct-to-consumer prescription drug ads are dangerous and can have serious effects on the health of the general public. In the article “Pros & Cons Arguments: ‘Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers?’”, the pros and cons of the advertising of prescription drugs are compared. The negative aspects of these ads outweigh that of the positives. DTC prescription drug ads misinform patients, promote over-usage, and pressure medical providers. The counter side argues that these ads inform patients, create a positive impact on patient compliance with medication, and cause patients to confront their doctors.
In Melody Peterson’s “Our Daily Meds” , the history of marketing and advertising in the pharmaceutical industry is explored. The first chapter of the book, entitled “Creating disease”, focuses on how major pharmaceutical companies successfully create new ailments that members of the public believe exist. According to Peterson, the success that these drug manufacturers have experienced can be attributed to the malleability of disease, the use of influencial people to promote new drugs and the efficient usage of media outlets.
since the FDA allowed companies to advertise directly to consumers we saw an increase in
As each product has its own unique segment, target market, and symptoms relief, those differences are going to be essential to promote each product value to prevent cannibalization. Thus the best advertising agency was selected to provide us the best response.
We live in a world where being medicated has become a societal norm. Modern health care practices have set the stage for the proliferation of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs by pharmaceutical manufacturers. Some of these practices include the emergence of managed care organizations (MCOs), the legalization of DTCA of prescription drugs, the emergence of the Internet as an alternative promotional channel, the increased desire by patients to become more involved in their own health care decisions, the disillusionment with traditional medicine, and the rise of ‘alternative’ medicine, to name a few. There is an ongoing debate as to the ultimate harm or benefit of this relatively recent practice of pharmaceutical manufacturers to direct their promotional efforts away from the physician and towards the consumer.
Kaphingst, K. A. (2004). A Content Analysis of Direct-to-ConsumerTelevision Prescription Drug Advertisements. Journal of Health Communication,Volume 9: , 515–528,.
“One man's gossip may be another man's news, but distinguishing between the two is often the key in determining whether the press is guilty of invasion of privacy.” Whether the article is newsworthy, whether the information is truthful, invasion of someone’s privacy is a tort, a civil wrong. Appropriation of name and likeness is one of the four forms of invasion of privacy that is defined as, one who appropriates to his own use or benefit the name or likeness of another is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy. Like every other tort there are cases that have different forms of a defense, and information that the plaintiff and defendant have to defend to prove civil right from wrong.
The Pharmaceutical Industry goals is to get as much profit incentive as possible through clinical trials, social networking, ads driving in a social movement in the demand for consumer goods. Patients have become more knowledgeable, demanding, and critical of medical care (Williams & Calman 1996). The internet has facilitated consumer involvement by offering easily accessible health-related information and providing a method for communication among like minded individuals (Hardey 2001). Medicalization from an analytical stand point is facilitated by the development of innovative technologies, consumer demands and the emergence of new medical markets in the hands of pharmaceutical enterprises. When medical products, services, or treatments are promoted to consumers to improve their health, appearance, or well-being, we see the development of medical market (Conrad & Leiter 2004).The race for cure, a Breast Cancer Awareness organization has been developed into a commodity for selling pink ribbons and bands. The awareness of Breast cancer is not being fully recognized by those who may not be knowledgeable of the treatments, mammograms, screening and essentially anything cancer related if the focus is on the marketing of products. Oftentimes, these corporations, sponsors, pharmaceuticals are concern with capitalizing on the health of the patience through empowering ads, to maximizing profits. Through private and
A man on the point of death is shown lying on a bed, Aids has taken
Therefore, brand loyalty among current consumers might be interrupted due to health concerns. Thus, advertising to attract new consumers is vital.
As a little girl I loved watching television shows on Saturday mornings. I’d get upset when a show would proceed to commercial. That is until I watched the shiny new toy being played with by the girl my age and of course the cool new one that came into the happy meal, then I’d forget. After seeing the appealing commercial I’d run to my mom and try to slickly mention it. “You know McDonalds has a new Monster’s Inc. toy in their happy meal. Isn’t that great? “Now I realize that back then I was targeted by big companies to beg my parents for things that I didn’t need or that wasn’t good for me in order to make money. Advertising today is affecting the health of today’s children because they eat the unhealthy foods advertised to them on: television, the internet, and even at school. Therefore, an impassioned discussion of possible solutions has been brewing.