TV Ads Overstate Benefits of Medication
Drug advertisement has doubled in recent years and one study shows the commercials work, in terms of convincing consumers to go to their doctors with a request for specific prescription drugs they saw advertised on television. But a study in the Annals of Family Medicine is raising questions about the messages ads promote.
In an accompanying editorial, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner David Kessler, MD, now dean of the UCSF School of Medicine, and his colleague Douglas Levy, JD, write that direct-to-consumer ads "do not effectively or consistently convey important information about product risks and benefits."
On NPR's Morning Edition, Kessler, who headed the FDA for seven years, notes that he opposed TV advertising for drugs. Kessler says pharmaceutics are powerful agents and ads, which are often based on emotional appeal, have great risk. He believes the FDA should be responsible for ensuring overall accuracy of ads.
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Study: TV Ads Overstate Benefits of Medication
Morning Edition, NPR, January 30, 2007
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Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Is It Too Late to Manage the Risks?
David A Kessler, MD and Douglas A. Levy, JD
Annals of Family Medicine 5:4-5 (2007)
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Study: TV Ads Overstate Benefits of Medication
Morning Edition, NPR, January 30, 2007