Advertising of Prescription Drugs

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that direct-to-consumer advertising is considered to be a powerful marketing tool and to be a helpful service for patients who wish to be informed about their options and be active in their own treatment; however, direct-to-consumer advertisements for prescription medications may hinder effective health care in several ways including reducing doctor-patient communication. The author concludes that the analyzed commercials for Allegra D to treat allergy symptoms and an unnamed cholesterol-fighting drug did adhere to the FDA guidelines. The paper states that these gimmicky commercials are not actually informative to the general public; they are simply a tool used by the medication companies to benefit from the consumerist impulses of the population.

From the Paper:

"Direct-to-consumer advertising is a phenomenon of the past couple of decades. The FDA has set guidelines for drug companies to follow that are intended to prevent consumers from being taken advantage of by misleading advertisements. All commercials must use words that common people can understand, without using advanced or complicated vocabulary that would require higher education or specialized training to decipher. Most of these commercials have to state a great deal of information about the product, including intended uses and common side-effects, as well as providing means for consumers to get more information about the product that would include all of the labeling that the FDA requires for the drug. However, the commercials that were observed were exempt from these guidelines because they were brief "reminder" or "help-seeking" ads."

More papers on Advertising of Prescription Drugs:

• Analytical Essay # 871 : "Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs"
• Term Paper # 122388 : "High Priced Prescription Drugs"
• Persuasive Essay # 23808 : "Advertising Prescription Drugs"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: