Drug Marketing
Direct-to-consumer marketing of prescription drugs should be prohibited.
Please visit StopDrugAds.org to tell your Members of Congress to stop prescription drug advertising.
In 2004, pharmaceutical companies spent more than $4 billion in an onslaught of advertising to promote prescription drugs. This advertising does not promote public health. It increases the cost of drugs and the number of unnecessary prescriptions, which is expensive to taxpayers, and can be harmful or deadly to patients.
For more than half a century, certain drugs have been available to patients only with a prescription, because all drugs, including those that can heal, can also cause harm. Doctors, nurses and other health professionals have the necessary training and experience to help them decide whether drugs are indicated in particular cases. This is why they make the prescription decision, not patients.
Prescription drug advertising pressures health professionals to prescribe particular medications, and often the ones that may be less effective and more expensive and dangerous. This intrudes in the relationship between medical professionals and patients, and disrupts the therapeutic process. It takes up valuable time to explain to patients why they may have been misled by the drug advertisements they have seen.
Prescription drug advertising is not educational. It is inherently misleading because it features emotive imagery and omits crucial information about drugs and their proper use, as well as about side effects and contraindications that can be found on the full FDA-approved label. Drug companies have an inherent and irredeemable financial conflict-of-interest which drives them to exaggerate the positive and minimize the negative qualities of their own products.
At a minimum, direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising should not exist unless accompanied by the full FDA-approved label. Nor should drug ads be allowed to display imagery that is primarily emotive and not educational. Drug ads on TV and radio should be prohibited because they cannot meet this standard for truthfulness.
More Information
News Releases
39 Health & Seniors Groups Call on Congress to End to DTC Prescription Drug Ads
Gary Ruskin | May 24th, 2006
StopDrugAds.org: A New Website Against DTC Prescription Drug Advertising
Gary Ruskin | January 23rd, 2006
200+ Medical School Professors Call for End to DTC Prescription Drug Ads
Gary Ruskin | October 27th, 2005
PhRMA’s New Ad Policy is “Craven Self-Preservation,” Says Commercial Alert
Gary Ruskin | August 2nd, 2005
Keep Drug-Sponsored Patient Channel Out of Hospitals, Doctors Say
Gary Ruskin | February 25th, 2003
Articles
Testimony at FDA Hearing on DTC Drug Marketing
Gary Ruskin | November 2nd, 2005
Related Articles and Links
Related Articles
Lawmakers Seek to Curb Drug Commercials
Natasha Singer | The New York Times | July 26th, 2009
Government Can't Ban Drug Advertising, but it Can Take the Life Out of the Ads
Dan Neil | Los Angeles Times | July 14th, 2009
Need to Check Your Cholesterol? There Will Be an App for That
Rich Thomaselli | Advertising Age | June 1st, 2009
DTC Ad Spending Decreased Last Year
Fred Gebhart | Modern Medicine | April 27th, 2009
Drug Firms' Spending on Consumer Ads Fell 8% in '08, a Rare Marketing Pullback
Keith J. Winstein and Suzanne Vranica | The Wall Street Journal | April 16th, 2009
FDA Warns Drug Firms Over Internet Ads
Jared A. Favole | The Wall Street Journal | April 4th, 2009
DTC Report: Between Screens
Matthew Arnold | Medical Marketing & Media | April 1st, 2009
Medical Device Cos Set Ad Rules Amid Criticism
Susan Heavey | Reuters | March 5th, 2009
A Birth Control Pill That Promised Too Much
Natasha Singer | The New York Times | February 11th, 2009
Drug Companies Shun Promotional Products
Patricia Odell | PROMO Magazine | February 1st, 2009
Glaxo to Pare Ads on U.S. Television
Jeanne Whalen | The Wall Street Journal | January 9th, 2009
Europe Moves to Loosen Ban Against Drug Ads
Jeanne Whalen | The Wall Street Journal | December 11th, 2008
Drugmakers to Note Actors, Make Other Ad Changes
Susan Heavey | Reuters | December 10th, 2008
Influential Democrat Calls for Ban of Certain New Drug Ads
NewsInferno.com | December 9th, 2008
Consumer Group Accuses Medical Device Makers of Misusing Online Video Promotions
Matthew Perrone (AP) | Los Angeles Times | December 3rd, 2008
Lilly Promos Run Afoul of U.K. Watchdog
Andrew Jack | Financial Times | November 13th, 2008
Physicians Discuss Concerns About Device DTC Advertising with US Lawmakers
Michael O'Riordan | theheart.org | September 19th, 2008
Congress Scrutinizes Consumer Ads for Medical Devices
Jacob Goldstein | WSJ Health Blog | September 17th, 2008
FDA Cracks Down on Viagra Online Push
Jim Edwards | AdWeek | September 15th, 2008
Pfizer Drops Celebrity Pitch in New Lipitor Spots
Jon Kamp | The Wall Street Journal | September 2nd, 2008
Making a Name for Drugs Without Using Their Names
Alicia Mundy | The Wall Street Journal | August 29th, 2008
Pharma Group Issues Guidelines
Jim Edwards | BrandWeek | July 10th, 2008
Drug Companies Agree to Tighter Rules
Ira Teinowitz | Advertising Age | June 16th, 2008
Congress Reconsiders Curbs on DTC Ads
Ira Teinowitz and Michael Bush | Advertising Age | June 6th, 2008
The Dangers of Consumer-Driven Medicine
Maggie Mahar and Niko Karvounis | AlterNet | May 27th, 2008
Congressmen Go After 'Deceptive' Pharma Ads
Steve Miller | BrandWeek | May 21st, 2008
GAO Criticizes FDA Regulatory Letters on Violative DTC Ads
FDA News | May 13th, 2008
AMA Calls for Limits on Drug Ads
Bloomberg News | The Boston Globe | May 9th, 2008
New Rules on Drug Ads Sought
Alicia Mundy | The Wall Street Journal | May 8th, 2008
Pharmaceutical Companies Defend Drug Ads Before Congress
Jared A. Favole | Dow Jones Newswires | May 8th, 2008
Does Drug Product Placement on TV Require New Regulations?
Enrique Rivero | UCLA | May 7th, 2008
Group Urges Ban on Medical Giveaways
Gardiner Harris | The New York Times | April 28th, 2008
Drug Makers Push Easing Off-Label Rules
Alicia Mundy | The Wall Street Journal | April 18th, 2008
Marketers Take More Targeted Approach To Selling Rx Drugs
Aaron Baar | Marketing Daily | April 17th, 2008
As US DTC Budgets Fall, Marketers Move Away From TV
Lynne Taylor | PharmaTimes | April 14th, 2008
Countering the Drug Salesmen
The New York Times | March 20th, 2008
Consumers Buy Into Drug Ads
Michael Calderone | Politico | March 11th, 2008
DTC ads work, and not just for advertised drugs, says study
Lynne Taylor | Pharma Times | March 5th, 2008
Committee Investigates Ad Tactics for Lipitor
Stephanie Saul | The New York Times | February 8th, 2008
Psst! Wanna buy some snake oil?
Editorial | The Telegram (Canada) | February 8th, 2008
Ad Groups Unfazed by DTC-Drug Debacles
Rich Thomaselli and Ira Teinowitz | Advertising Age | February 4th, 2008
Drug Side Effects Minimized in Commercials, Study Found
UGA Red and Black | January 8th, 2008
US House Panel Says Probing Pfizer Lipitor Ads
Lisa Richwine | Reuters | January 7th, 2008
US FDA Says Effexor Anti-Depressant Ad Misleading
Kim Dixon | Reuters | December 14th, 2007
A Heart Stent Maker Decides the Way to the Patient Is Through the Patient
Barnaby J. Feder | The New York Times | December 5th, 2007
FDA Requests Information on DTC Advertisements for Review Program
FDA News | October 26th, 2007
DTC moratorium out, fines in for Senate PDUFA bill; importation measure checked
Medical Marketing & Media | May 8th, 2007
Drug-Safety Bill Would Limit Direct-to-Consumer Advertising
Associated Press | April 17th, 2007
New Medical-Device Ads; Old Concerns
Brian Steinberg | The Wall Street Journal | April 10th, 2007
Analysis: Prescription Drug Ads Leave Out Risks, Alternatives
Rita Rubin | USA Today | January 30th, 2007
Showdown Looms in Congress Over Drug Advertising on TV
Milt Freudenheim | The New York Times | January 22nd, 2007
Drug Ads Sell a Problem, Not a Solution
Jonathan Rowe | Christian Science Monitor | August 21st, 2006
Drug Firms a Danger to Health - Report
Sarah Boseley | The Guardian (of London) | June 26th, 2006
Marketing the Illness and the Cure?
Rob Stein | Washington Post | May 30th, 2006
Donations Link Drug Firms to Nonprofit Patient Groups
Thomas Ginsberg | Philadelphia Inquirer | May 28th, 2006
Drugs Companies 'Inventing Diseases to Boost Their Profits'
Mark Henderson | The Times (of London) | April 11th, 2006
Professors Speak Out Against Advertising Directly to Consumers
Jeanne Lenzer | British Medical Journal | November 3rd, 2005
New Zealand to Ban DTC Advertising by ‘06
Advertising Age | September 5th, 2005
Drug Firms Seek Ad Remedy
Margaret Webb Pressler | Washington Post | August 3rd, 2005
Web Sites New Twist in Celebrity Drug Ads
Linda A. Johnson | Associated Press | July 17th, 2005
Senate Leader Seeks Moratorium on Ads for New Prescription Drugs
Kathy Kiely | USA Today | June 30th, 2005
Tube Feeding
Vincent P. Bzdek | Washington Post | July 8th, 2003
Patient Channel in hospitals: healthy move? The new TV network says its information is educational. Critics call it manipulative.
Alexandra Marks | Christian Science Monitor | March 19th, 2003
Critics Object to Drug Ads on Hospital Channel
Stephaie Riesenman | Reuters | February 26th, 2003
Patient Channel To Blast Ads At Bedridden
Suzanne Vrancia | Wall Street Journal | September 26th, 2002
Heartfelt Advice, Hefty Fees
Melody Peterson | The New York Times | August 11th, 2002
Drug Ads Hyping Anxiety Make Some Uneasy
Shankar Vedantam | Washington Post | July 16th, 2001
External Links
Influence of Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising and Patients' Requests on Prescribing Decisions: Two Site Cross Sectional Survey
Barbara Mintzes et al., British Medical Journal | February 2, 2002
ACP/ASIM Policy Statement on Direct to Consumer Advertising for Prescription Drugs
Am. Coll. of Physicians/Am. Soc. Int. Medicine | October 9, 1998
Feminists Challenge Unethical Marketing by Prescription Drug Companies
Judy Norsigian | March, 2001
How Direct to Consumer Advertising Is Putting the Squeeze on Physicians
Phyllis Maguire, ACP/ASIM Observer | March, 1999
Testimony on Direct-to-Consumer Promotion of Prescription Drugs
Cindy Pearson, Nat'l Womens Health Network | October 19, 1995
Providing Presecription Medicine Information to Consumers: Is There a Role for Direct to Consumer Promotion
Health Action International | January 10, 2002
Direct-to-Consumer Advertising -- Education or Emotion Promotion
Sidney M. Wolfe MD, New England J. Medicine | February 14, 2002
Essential Action's page on the FDA and Commercial Speech Protections
Essential Action |
Testimony on Direct to Consumer Advertising
Sidney M. Wolfe MD, Public Citizen | July 24, 2001
Comments on Proposed Food and Drug Administration Survey Entitled FDA: Attitudinal and Behavioral Effects of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs
Public Citizen Health Research Group | September 28, 1998
The Educational Value of Consumer-Targeted Prescription Drug Print Advertising
Robert Bell, Michael Wilkes, Richard Kravitz | December, 2000
FDA Oversight of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Has Limitations
US General Accounting Office (GAO) | October, 2002
America's Other Drug Problem: How the Drug Industry Distorts Medicine and Politics
Arnold Relman & Marcia Angell, New Republic
Must See TV
Michael Shaw, BAGnews | September 18, 2003
Warning letters to pharmaceutical companies
Food and Drug Administration |
Floor statement on prescription drug advertising
Senator Bill Frist | July 1st, 2005 |