Legislators and the pharmaceutical industry itself are considering some form of moratorium on direct-to-consumer advertising for new prescription drugs for a specified time period after a new drug comes to market. Findings from a new survey suggest that such requirements would be viewed favorably by many Americans; a 51 to 25 percent majority of U.S. adults tend to agree that it is a good idea to forbid direct-to-consumer advertising for new prescription drugs for some period of time after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug so that doctors have time to become familiar with it. Support for such requirements may be driven in part by public concerns about the FDA’s ability to appropriately oversee prescription drug advertising to consumers. Majorities of adults believe the FDA is doing only a fair or poor job of ensuring that direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs provides complete and accurate information about the risks and benefits of the medication (61%) and of deciding which prescription drugs can and cannot be advertised directly to consumers (69%).
These are some of the results of a Harris Interactive® online survey of 2,207 U.S. adults conducted between July 6 and 8, 2005 for The Wall Street Journal Online’s Health Industry Edition.
Support for mandatory vs. voluntary limitations
More adults say they would favor a mandatory rather than a voluntary ban on direct-to-consumer advertising for new prescription drugs. Specifically:
· More than one-third (35%) would favor a mandatory ban on direct-to-consumer advertising for all new prescription drugs approved by the FDA for some limited period of time.
· Sixteen percent (16%) would favor a voluntary ban on direct-to-consumer advertising for new prescription drugs approved by the FDA so that each pharmaceutical company could decide when to begin advertising to consumers.
© 2005 HealthNewsDigest.com