New Study on
Direct-to-Consumer Rx Ads
By: Kaiser Foundation Family
KFF, February 14, 2002
The February 14th issue of The New England Journal of
Medicine features an article, "Promotion of Prescription Drugs to
Consumers," that examines trends in spending by pharmaceutical
companies on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising.
The article, written by Meredith Rosenthal, Ph.D. of Harvard
University; Ernst Berndt, Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology; and Richard Frank, Ph.D.; Julie Donohue; and Arnold Epstein,
M.D., M.A. also of Harvard, is based on a report prepared for the
Foundation, Trends in Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs
(publication #3162), led by Richard Frank.
Specific findings from the article and full report
include:
* DTC promotion increased nine-fold from $266 million
in 1994 to nearly $2.5 billion in 2000, largely due to growth in
television advertising (13% of DTC spending in 1994, rising to 64% in
2000). Increases in DTC spending on television ads began to increase
even before the Food and Drug Administration
clarified regulation of such ads in 1997.
* Despite the rise in DTC advertising, marketing to
physicians remains the primary focus of drug company marketing efforts,
representing roughly 85% ($13.2 billion) of the total spending on
prescription drug promotion in 2000.
* Spending on DTC advertising is concentrated among a
relatively small number of drugs, with 20 drugs comprising about 60% of
total prescription promotion spending in 2000.
High levels of DTC ad spending tend to be associated with
repeat-use drugs for the treatment of chronic conditions such as
allergies, high cholesterol, and ulcers.
* Surveys from a variety of organizations indicate
that the number of those who have seen drug ads has increased from about
40% in 1993, to 90% in 2000.
In November 2001, the Kaiser Family Foundation
released additional research related to DTC advertising including a unique
survey, Understanding the Effects of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug
Advertising (publication # 3197), that gauged consumer response to drug
ads by showing actual ads to people and assessing their reactions. Among the nationally representative findings of that survey:
* Nearly one in three adults have talked with their
doctor, and one in eight have received a prescription in response to an ad
they have seen.
* While many say that drug ads do a good job of
explaining what the medication does, most of the FDA required information
(including statements about where to find more information) does not
necessarily register.
The Foundation also released an update of its
comprehensive Prescription Drug Trends chart book (publication # 3112)
that includes data about drug coverage, spending, utilization, drug
promotion and the pharmaceutical industry.
All three reports can be found on the Foundation's
website at:
http://www.kff.org/content/2002/3162
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