Should Prescription Drugs Be Advertised to the Public

Point/Counter Point

HLTH 1050

Maxwell-Stephens

“Should prescription drugs be advertised to the public?”

Antoinette Aiono

Stefhanie Iliff

Chantelle Koellner

Whitney Dame

The question at hand is whether or not prescription drugs should be advertised to the public. Throughout this essay we will present information on the benefits of these advertisements as well as the negative effects that they produce. Direct-to-consumer advertisements are a common reality in today’s society and widely viewed by the public. The effects of these advertisements in relation to the viewer are rarely noticed by the individual. We will give light to these issues by presenting the findings of our research in an attempt to link causality to these advertisements and ultimately come to an agreed conclusion for this question.

The United Statesand New Zealand are the only two countries where advertising directly to the consumers is legal. FDA regulates these ads to make sure they are not false or misleading. Prescription drug advertisements inform consumers about potential medical conditions they may have and the drugs that can treat the described conditions. These ads are a form of public health service that provides helpful information. Prescription drug advertisements also lessen the stigma associated with many health conditions, which help make it easier for patients to acknowledge potential health issues and talk to their doctors about them (ProCon.org).

Doctors, hospitals, health care providers, and insurance providers are allowed to advertise directly to the consumer. Fairness dictates that drug companies should be able to advertise their products as well. The FDA helps make sure side effects and potential risks are accurately presented, which increases safety for the consumer. Advertisements are a major motivator for patients to see their doctors. All commercials say, "See your doctor for more information." Amendment 1 protects this form of speech. Law prohibits these advertisements to violate the US constitution (Mogull).

The problem with advertising prescription drugs is how many people are abusing them by self-diagnosing based on the ad’s they see or hear. They get pulled into thinking they have severe depression based on what the advertisement tells them. Patients are going to their doctors telling them just enough information to get a prescription for the medication that they want without really trying to solve the problem. Patients are not being fully advised of all the risks and side effects that could happen by taking the medicine. They are only advised of how great it will make them feel and how it will change their lives.

Depression, stress and anxiety are some of the highest targets for advertisement. These advertisements all show attractive people having amazing lives because they took medicine to relive their problems (NIHCM). They don’t explain that if you have a severe issue with depression, anxiety and stress that you should seek help from a therapist or try alternative solutions before seeking help from pharmaceutical medications. They only explain an easy fix that all of us are looking for.

According the DSM-IV, a person must have experienced at least five or more symptoms of the following; depressed mood daily, extreme weigh gain/loss, feeling worthless, inability to think/concentrate daily, recurring thoughts of death, insomnia, or diminished interest in activities you once enjoyed. It also states that you must have experienced these symptoms daily for at least two weeks or more to be medically diagnosed as depressed (Mental Health).

How many people feel this way for few days and see an ad on TV and tell their doctors that they have felt this way for weeks just to get what they feel they need? These advertisements are so descriptive of the problems that you have, nearly anyone can go to their doctor and use the commercial ad’s information to get the medicine they feel they need or want. While there are many people that do need to be on these types of medications, they need to be fully diagnosed and be made completely aware of all side effects that occur from taking the prescribed medicine. There are many alternatives to fixing health and psychological issues without the use of medicine.

Although some feel that these advertisements don’t present all the facts, there are many that are educational. They provide consumers with important information that may benefit their health and generate sales revenues to offset high cost for research and development. Direct-to-consumer advertisements of prescription drugs are important and profitable for drug manufactures. These manufactures make about four dollars for every one dollar that is spent on advertising (PAL). They have every right to make a profit; making a profit helps them want to make more types of drugs. Without profits they would have less money to make living and life improving medications.

Brand-name companies invest substantial amounts of money forfurther research and testing to acquire FDA required approval. Generic drug companies don’t have research and development expenses. Because of this, advertising prescription drugs is necessary to recoup their research prescription expenses to remain competitive. All advertisements given through magazines, newspaper, TV, i.e. pens, notepads, online as well as other sources, keep people employed such as prescription drug advertisements do. The FDA helps make sure side effects are accurately noted and the risks are made aware to the consumer. Marketing is about what matters and is favorable to the consumer. It is more like a service to society rather than simply an advertisement.

Through the public advertisement of prescription drugs, the patient-physician relationship becomes distorted. These relationships should be based on trust, but the information given through these ads push the patient to undermine the physician. Many consumers state that they would consider ending the relationship with their doctor if the desired medications were refused (Poser 5). Because of this, direct-to-consumer ads may influence patients to “doctor-shop” in an attempt to receive the medications that they want. This presents a problem because most patients don’t have the knowledge to accurately decide which medication is best for their individual medical problems. In addition, the patient-physician discussion of a medication that is not appropriate for specific symptoms results in lost time that could have been used in discussing more ideal methods of treatment (Poser 5).

Because doctors rely financially on loyal patients, they become more willing to satisfy the patient even though they don’t always agree on the idea of care that is being presented. This can lead to misuse of medications and ultimately to faults in patient health. This problem of relationship conflict has shown that the personal attitudes around these advertisements, and the presumed drug research preferred by the patient, affects the physician’s likelihood of prescribing the advertised drug (Herzenstein, Misra, & Posavac 209-210), when this decision should be based solely on medical identified symptoms.

In conclusion to this essay, we have come to the agreement that public advertisement of prescription drugs have more negative effects on society than positive. We feel that these advertisements are not a necessity in regard to medical education. If an individual has concerns or questions about one’s health, they should inform their doctor and leave the medical diagnosis and suggestion of treatment up to the educated doctor. The damage caused to the patient-physician relationship, as well as the need to acquire drugs based on individual observations rather than the doctors, can ultimately lead to misuse of medication, wrongly directed education and negative effects toward patient health. The basic purpose of advertisement is to increase sales and competition between companies. We don’t believe that advertisement should be a tool used when dealing with something as fragile as one’s health. Therefore, we are not in agreement with advertisement of prescription drugs to the public.

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Works Cited

FDA. “Drugs.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Protecting and Promoting Your Health. n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.

Herzenstein, Sanjog Misra, and Steven S. Posavac. “How Consumers’ Attitudes toward Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs Influence Ad Effectiveness, and Consumer and Physician Behavior.” Marketing Letters, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec., 2004), pp. 201-212. JSTOR. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

Mental Health. “DSM IV Depression Codes and Diagnosis.” n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.

Mogull, Scott A. “Chronology of Direct-To-Consumer Advertising Regulation in the United States.” Journal. Vol. 23. No. 23 (2008). Web. 12 Oct. 2012.

NIHCM. “Prescription Drugs and Mass Media Advertising.” The National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation. 2000. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.

PAL. “Direct-to-Consumer-Advertising (DTCA) of Prescription Drugs.” Prescription Access Litigation. n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.

Poser, Mareen. “DTCA Of Prescription Medicines in The European Union: Is There Still A Need for A Ban?.” European Journal Of Health Law 17.5 (2010): 471-484. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.

ProCon.org. “Should Prescription Drugs be Advertised Directly to Consumers?” 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.