BIG PHARMA ADVERTS IN U.S. - HERE IS JUST A FLAVOUR - THEY WORK TO MAKE PEOPLE THINK THEY NEED SOMETHING THAT THEY DON'T.+ New Scientist Article which demonstrates the power of these adverts

THE U.S. AND N.Z. ARE THE ONLY TWO COUNTRIES WHERE DIRECT TO CONSUMER ADVERTISING IS ALLOWED AND HAS A HUGE EFFECT ON DEMAND FROM THE PUBLIC AND SALES WITH THE BEST ADVERTS SHOWING THE MOST INCREASE IN REQUESTS TO GPs AND THEN TO  PRESCRIPTION RATES NATIONALLY.

http://youtu.be/81DmeC_EXKI

CLICK TO WATCH - Dr Marcia Angell and other eminent academics / professionals talk about the dangers to public health.

LONG ADVERTS FOR DRUGS IN THE U.S. ARE STANDARD BETWEEN EVERY PROGRAMME OFTEN ACCOUNTING FOR A QUARTER OF AIR TIME.WHY IS THIS SO DESIRABLE FOR DRUG COMPANIES - BECAUSE IT WORKS AND SELLS DRUGS. 

Drug adverts have 'profound effect' on prescribing

• New Scientist Article
• 21:00 26 April 2005 by Shaoni Bhattacharya

Advertising drugs directly to patients has a "profound effect" on the way doctors prescribe, finds a new study in which actors posed as patients.

Drug companies have poured billions of dollars into direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising in the US since the rules governing mass media advertising for prescription drugs were relaxed in 1997. Other countries - such as the UK, for example - do not permit advertising directly to patients.

But critics charge that DTC advertising can lead to over-prescribing which might be potentially harmful, while proponents say that giving patients knowledge about drugs can avert the under-use of effective treatments.

Now a study by US researchers shows that actors consulting doctors and mentioning a particular antidepressant drug advertised on television are much more likely to get that prescription than if they do not request any medication.

"Our study supplies direct experimental evidence that DTC advertisement-driven requests, along with general requests, dramatically boost prescribing," writes the team, led by Richard Kravitz at the University of California, Davis, US.

The researchers acknowledge that these requests can prevent the initial under-treatment of major depression. "But DTC advertising is a two-edged sword, driving requests that seem to be especially effective at encouraging prescribing when drugs may not be needed," Kravitz told New Scientist.

Advertising moratorium

It is unlikely that the US Food and Drug Administration would restrict DTC advertising, writes Michael Hollon at the University of Washington in Seattle, in an editorial accompanying the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. But the agency should expect pharmaceutical companies to improve the educational content of their advertisements, he says.

Also, he says: "Because the safety of a new drug cannot be known with certainty until it has been on the market for several years, and since drug withdrawals occur more than two-thirds of the time within three years of release, the FDA should consider a moratorium on DTC advertising for three years after initial market release."

But the US pharmaceutical industry argues DTC advertising is valuable. "It helps us fight the fact that millions of Americans suffer from diseases that go undetected and untreated, and still leaves the prescribing of life-saving therapies to doctors who know their patients best," says Billy Tauzin, president and chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

In the randomised trial, the researchers had middle-aged, white actresses make appointments with 152 primary care physicians. The women were trained to portray the symptoms of two clinical conditions - major depression or adjustment disorder. The latter involves mild, transient depressive symptoms following life stress and rarely requires a drug prescription at the first visit.

The actresses also made one of three kinds of request. They would either suggest that the branded drug Paxil (paroxetine) - which they saw in a television advertisement - might help them; or make a general request for a drug; or make no drug request.

Doctors take requests

Actresses portraying adjustment disorder but making no specific drug requests were prescribed an antidepressant 10% of the time. Making a general request raised this level to 39%. Making a specific request for Paxil raised the level still further to a prescription rate of 55% - though not necessarily for Paxil itself.

Actresses portraying major depression and making a general request for drugs were prescribed an antidepressant 76% of the time. In this category, only 3% of all visits resulted in a specific prescription for Paxil. However, if the major depression group made a specific request for Paxil, this rate shot up to 27%.

As well as injecting more education into adverts, Kravitz suggests alternative information sources such as public service announcements could be developed for patients. One way to fund this would be to apply a tax to DTC advertising, he suggests.