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Study Finds DTC Harmful to the American Public, Offers Recommendations

A recent study in the American Journal of Public Health weighs the opinions for and against DTC and uses these differing opinions to proffer several guidelines to aid in the beneficial nature of DTC towards the American public and minimize the risks of that form of communication.

The study argues that while “ [DTC] advertising has some benefits…significant risks are evident as well, magnified by the prominence of DTCA in population-level health communications.”  In other words, DTC is targeted towards every American consumer, putting those that do not understand the nature of DTC advertisements at risk for mis-communication. 

The researchers believe “DTCA amounts to a large and expensive uncontrolled experiment in population health, which to date shows decidedly mixed effects.”  With implementation of their guidelines, the researches feel that DTC can lessen its burden on public health.

The authors reveal 3 primary recommendations for DTC marketing in their study:

1.   “Ads should facilitate the identification of appropriate patient candidates for treatment.”  The researchers feel that DTC campaigns do not appropriately express to whom their message is specifically targeted.  They believe identifying the target market of a DTC campaign “could reduce inappropriate prescribing.”

2.   “Ads should provide for all products: accurate and specific information about the potential benefits of advertised drugs instead of the current qualitative and emotion-driven portrayals that often suggest misleadingly dramatic effects.”  The researchers cite clinical trials in which quantitative benefit data was included in DTC and led to “more realistic consumer appraisals of effectiveness.”

3.   “Ads should provide specific quantitative information about the potential risks associated with drugs.” The researchers note a disconnect between the visual imagery and auditory messaging in many DTC messages causing an “inadequate processing of verbal risk information.”

It is interesting that the study’s third recommendation is heavily in line with a guideline underlined in the DDMAC draft guidance distributed last May.