Pros And Cons Of Prescription Drug Advertisements

Americans are bombarded with hundreds of advertisements on a daily basis. Whether it is TV commercials, billboards, radio commercials, or an ad at the side of a web page, advertisements are inescapable. However, there is a certain type of advertisement that Americans are exposed to that most other nations are not: prescription drug advertisements. In a nation built on consumerism, where people are often too easily influenced by the advertisements they see, is this really a beneficial or safe practice? Many would say no. These advertisements can often have negative impacts on consumers perceptions of their doctors, and even on their own health. However, others would argue that these advertisements are beneficial because they put information
and choice into the hands of the patients themselves, instead of leaving all of the choices to the patient’s doctor. The bottom line is this: these prescription drug advertisements do much more harm than good, and should not be allowed.
Prescription Drug advertisements, called Direct to Consumer advertisements, or DTC for short, are dangerous. One reason for this is that “side effects are often not communicated in a comprehensive manner in advertising or marketing communications” (“Direct to Consumer Advertising” 3). Patients walk in asking for a prescription without even knowing what side effects it may have, simply because they saw a commercial for the medication and decided they needed it. Furthermore, if a patient becomes convinced they need a medication and cannot get their doctor to prescribe it, they may go to illegal measures to try to get the medication without a prescription (“Direct to Consumer Advertising” 3). This is highly dangerous, as
the patient may be getting a medication that could harm them, interact with other medications in a negative manner, or have unexpected and potentially life-threatening side effects. Patients should always have an expert opinion from someone who has studied medicine and knows the risks and benefits involved in taking a certain medication, but a patient who has taken this route is putting their own health at risk. “94% of oncology nurse practitioners surveyed for an article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology had a patient request an advertised drug, 74% had a patient request an inappropriate drug, and 43% responded that they felt pressured to prescribe the inappropriate drug” (“Prescription Drug Ads”). Patients are not only requesting medications, they are often requesting the wrong medications and pressuring their doctors to prescribe them, just because of an advertisement. Besides being dangerous, DTC advertisements turn medical decisions into a consumer culture. DTC advertisements encourage patients to make the decision on what medication to use, instead of leaving this decision to the doctor.
However, most people do not have advanced medical degrees. Without knowledge of how medication works,, how can someone truly know what medication will solve their problem? Furthermore, DTC advertisements can make patients feel as if they know better than their doctors. “Patients who are convinced that an advertised drug will solve their problems often mistrust a doctor’s advice if the doctor suggests an alternate solution” (“Prescription Drug Ads”). The ideal situation is a scenario in which patients and doctors work as a team to combat an illness, not one in which patients feel as if they know more than their own doctor. DTC advertisements are creating the opposite climate. And although these advertisements have clear negative effects, many argue that they have had benefits to our
society. Some argue that DTC advertisements create a more informed population of patients. “To the extent that the ads provide good information on a particular disease or disorder and the appropriate uses of the medication being marketed, they can be viewed as empowering patients to take on a more active role in their own health care” (Wright). Most people would agree that patients taking an active role in their care is a desirable outcome of these prescriptions. It is important to be informed and knowledgeable about one’s own health. However, TV ads are 30 seconds to a minute long. Is this really enough time to inform consumers about the true implications of a medication? Oftentimes, “the information provided in ads is typically quite oversimplified and vague” (Wright). Oversimplified and vague information does nothing to create a more educated and active population. Clearly, these ads are not meant to inform; they are meant to sell. The advertisements are not designed to, and therefore cannot, create the type of educated consumer desirable to take this active role in their own care. Another argument by supporters of prescription drug commercials is that these commercials encourage patients to seek help for a condition they would not otherwise have realized they had or known about treatment for. For example, “In 2007 the FDA approved a drug for fibromyalgia, a condition that previously had no drug treatment, so patients with the condition were made aware of a possible treatment through DTC prescription drug ads and could speak to their doctors in order to receive treatment” (“Prescription Drug Ads”). In this case, without these DTC ads these patients may not have realized they had a reason to go to the doctor, because for so long there had been no treatment for their condition. However, the help these patients are seeking is not always the help they need. “A major concern is that DTC advertising rarely mentions lifestyle changes or other nonpharmacological interventions, which often are as important as pharmacological therapy” (Wilkes, Bell, and Kravitz 121). Many would agree that we live in an “overmedicated” society. DTC advertisements can make patients feel as if there is a medication they can take for everything, and that any other treatment is not necessary or valid. Even though these ads are helping patients recognize a condition they didn’t realize they had, or giving new hope to patients who thought their condition was untreatable, they offer only one solution to the problem: buy their medication. This viewpoint is dangerously narrow. Prescription drug advertisements are a danger to the health of everyone. Granted, there may be some benefits to these ads, such as educating people about prescription drugs and encouraging patients to seek help for medical conditions. However, these ads do not give enough information to truly educate consumers. The makers of these commercials are not interested in educating, they are interested in selling. These ads create a culture in which an uneducated population feels informed enough to make medical decisions based on an advertisement, instead of based on years of medical experience. The United States should join essentially the rest of the world in banning these advertisements.