E-drug: Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising study
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I am posting this news release as it may be of interest to e-drug
subscribers.
Best regards,
Barbara Mintzes
Centre for Health Services and Policy Research,=20
University of British Columbia=20
429 - 2194 Health Sciences Mall=20
Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3=20
Tel: (604) 822-4810; =20
Fax: (604) 822-5690;=20
Website: www.chspr.ubc.ca
Consumer drug advertising sways patient treatment, says UBC study
Feb 1, 2002, Vancouver BC
Mainstream public advertising of prescription drugs is having a
detrimental effect on the appropriateness of treatment offered to North
American patients, according to a study published in today's British
Medical Journal.
The study, conducted jointly by Canadian and American researchers,
looked at the prescribing practices of general practitioners in both
countries, and found that when patients asked for a specific drug by
name, their physicians were very likely to prescribe the requested drug,
even if the doctor had reservations about the choice of treatment.
Prescribing is much more common when patients request drugs, than when
they do not.
This is no surprise, says the study's lead author, Barbara Mintzes,
graduate researcher at the University of British Columbia. "Last year,
pharmaceutical companies pumped over US $2.5 billion into advertising
prescription drug products in the United States alone, and their
substantial investments are based on the knowledge that sales are
influenced by this direct advertising."
Among the report's findings:
- Patients who request drugs are much more likely to get
prescriptions than patients who don't
- Physicians prescribe drugs in response to almost three-quarters of requests
- Physicians are ambivalent about their prescription decisions in
about half of cases where they are responding to patient requests for
an advertised drug; whereas they're ambivalent in only about 1 case
in 8, when not prompted by a patient request.
The project researchers looked at drugs having the 50 biggest
advertising budgets in the US, or which were covered in Canadian
media. 'Direct to patient advertising' (DTCA) is allowed in the US,
but is illegal in Canada, although drug advertising reaches Canadians
by US cable or satellite channels, American print publications, and
even the Internet.
Ms Mintzes says that the difference in advertising laws between the
two countries showed up in the results of their study. "American
doctors were about twice as likely to receive requests for DTCA drugs
as physicians in Vancouver" she says. But she also goes on to accuse
the federal government of failing to give consumers north of the
border the full protection of Canadian legislation. "The lax
attitude to enforcement means that the public is exposed to a great
deal of pharmaceutical advertising, and our study shows this is
already affecting prescription drug use."
The researchers undertaking this work are based at the Centre for
Health Services & Policy Research at the University of British
Columbia, Vancouver BC, and at the Centre for Health Services
Research in Primary Care at the University of California, Davis,
Sacramento.
Influence of direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising and
patient' requests on prescribing decisions: two site cross-sectional
survey.
Mintzes, ML Barer, RL Kravitz, A Kazanjian, K Bassett, J Lexchin, RG
Evans, R Pan, SA Marion. British Medical Journal 2 February 2002, Vol
324: 278=20
Available at: http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7332/278
Note: This survey was part of a larger study assessing the potential
impact of direct-to-consumer advertising on the Canadian health system,
funded by Health Canada. The summary project report is available at:
http://www.chspr.ubc.ca/hpru/pdf/dtca.PDF
For additional information, please contact:
Hilary Thomson, UBC Media Relations, tel: 604 822 2644 ;
hilary.thomson@ubc.c
Barbara Mintzes bmintzes@chspr.ubc.ca
Morris Barer mbarer@chspr.ubc.ca
Armine Kazanjian arminee@chspr.ubc.ca
Ken Bassett basset@chspr.ubc.ca
Bob Evans bevans@chspr.ubc.ca
Joel Lexchin joel.lexchin@utoronto.ca
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