One
of the grey areas that the FDA regulates, but not with the same degree of
stringency as it does many pharmaceutical and healthcare products is Direct to
Consumer (DTC) marketing. As the name suggests, Direct to Consumer or Direct to
Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising (DTCPA) is a form of marketing in which
pharmaceutical companies advertise to its consumers directly over the media
such as television and radio. It has gained such prominence and popularity that
it is considered the most prevalent
form of
communication from the medical profession to patients in the US today.
The
US is considered the only country, other from
New Zealand, to allow pharmaceutical companies to use DTCPA to make claims on
the product. The contrast in the situations in these two countries cannot be
more glaring, since New Zealand has less than 1.5 percent of the population in
the US! In the US, DTCPA is a huge medium, since it is the world’s leading
market
for healthcare and is also a very consumerist and beauty and health conscious
society.
Although
around
as a medium of marketing since at least 1985; DTCPA emerged as a major force
for healthcare and pharmaceutical products promotion around 12 years later,
when the FDA decided to relax its rule that made it obligatory for
pharmaceutical companies to publish detailed information about the side effects
of their products. An idea of how much change this small relaxation has brought
about into the industry can be gauged from the fact that as much as $ five
billion is spent in the US annually on DTCPA.
The
arguments in factor of DTCPA
Direct
to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising is both strongly defended, if not
glorified or revered, and reviled for what it does to the consumer, the
pharmaceutical company, and the healthcare sector as a whole.
One
of the main arguments in factor of DTCPA is that American society is highly
educated and can easily discern whatever information is fed to them. In such a
knowledge-driven, knowledge-oriented nation as the US, it is an anachronism of
sorts if all channels of information and marketing are open, but only that of
pharmaceuticals and healthcare is not.
Proponents
of the concept of DTCPA argue that just as advertising for most other products
do not automatically result in purchases, the same goes for Direct to Consumer
Pharmaceutical Advertising. Only because these wares are being advertised
doesn’t mean that people will automatically buy them and start using them
blindly without examining the side effects, efficacy and a whole host of
attributes that they would if the products were advertised through other
mediums.
What the
consumerist society needs
For
pharmaceuticals, Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising is a very strong
tool for giving their products a fillip, because in economies such as the US,
in which there is a high level of consumer awareness, the endorsement of a
brand by a practitioner or a popular character will have the effect of spurring
them to ask for the product either with their own physician or practitioner or
at the retail outlet at which they buy their pharmaceutical products. In this
way, both the practice’s and the retailer’s business goes up.
Major
arguments against Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising
Another
point that opponents of the idea of DTCPA put forth is that by resorting to
this medium, pharmaceutical companies may be lining their pockets, but mainly
at the expense of the consumer. DTCPA is a contributor to the American economy
since it boosts the level of prescriptions and triggers sales of products, but
the big question is what kind of products are bought on account of DTCPA. Are
these the products that the consumers need? By motivating the consumer to buy
mostly unnecessary products, this advertising medium makes an already
consumerist economy spend even more on products that are mostly unwanted and
serve nothing more than just cosmetic
purposes.
This
means that the American healthcare sector is bloating more with the use of such
products, making the hardworking taxpayer pay for this massive sector, rather
than increase awareness of the products nationally. This defeats the purpose of
healthcare, which should be about improving the quality of life, instead of
splurging on peripheral needs.
A
very important point that those who oppose DTCPA offer is that there is almost
no way by which the claims made by these ads can be verified. In a popular
episode,
a medical practitioner was attributed as being the author of a breakthrough
study on the ill effects of cholesterol. The call for using a cholesterol lowering
drug made by this practitioner had a big effect on the sale of the drug across
the US. It later turned out that not only was the report wrongly attributed to
the said practitioner; he was not even an authorized practitioner.
Promoting
over-the-counter drugs and products
Opponents
of DTCPA have another couple of strong points to denounce this practice. They think that these
ads promote the use of non-label or over-the-counter drugs, whose efficacy is
always debatable. They also believe that this medium reduces pharmaceutical
products to the level of any other consumer item with largely misleading
information about products that are not absolutely necessary, often promoted by
celebrities who have no clue about the real value of the product.
The
FDA is seen as being lax when it
should be a lot more proactive in this area. This regulatory authority, on its
part, says that it is
on vigil, carrying out periodic surveys with consumers to gauge the effect of
these ads on their buying patterns and of course, health.
Get
professional trainings to get to the root of any issue
Professional
trainings from NetZealous
LLC, a Fremont,
CA-based provider of professional trainings can help clear the air about the
uses or otherwise of Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising and all
other related topics. NetZealous LLC offers professional trainings in the areas
of regulatory compliance, human resources, healthcare and IT through highly
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