This week many drug CEOs met with President Trump to discuss pricing and innovation. In just two weeks Mr. Trump has sat down with a number of business leaders to push domestic investment in job creation. He pushed the drug makers to build factories here and get control of drug prices. In return Trump promised […]
Archive | DTC-In-Perspective by Bob Ehrlich
DTC in Perspective: Did Obamacare Help or Hurt Americans?
Trying to be objective about Obamacare seems to be as difficult as with every other major policy issue these days. The newspaper headlines from the media are saying thousands of people will die if Obamacare is repealed. The Washington Post in a January 23 story cited estimates by medical professors who estimate the number at […]
DTC in Perspective: Repeal, Replace and DTC Growth
DTC will be much more important in the new health care era post Obamacare. This is not just for drug companies but for all health care goods and services. The Trumpcare plan will be shifting more decisions on health care to consumers based on free market competition. Americans will be given greater control over spending […]
DTC in Perspective: FDA Wants to See if Consumers Recognize Deceptive Ads
In what might be the most puzzling FDA DTC study proposed to date, the agency wants to see if consumers can recognize deceptive claims in DTC ads. In this study FDA wants to create mock ads with deceptive claims to see if consumers recognize those false claims and evaluate how that affects their perceptions of […]
DTC in Perspective: My Predictions for 2017
It is always fun to hear pundits make predictions. Most of the time they are wrong but we eagerly watch experts tell us who will win elections, how much stocks will rise, what the price of oil will be, and which film will win best picture. We have a media that exists to debate these […]
DTC in Perspective: A Free Market and DTC
We are likely to see a much freer market for health care under the new Trump administration. What does that really mean for consumers and providers? How might it affect drug companies? And to those of us in DTC marketing, does a free market help or hurt our business? America is not currently a true […]
DTC in Perspective: New HHS Secretary Tom Price
President-Elect Trump nominated Georgia Congressman and physician Tom Price to head Health and Human Services. This move proves Trump is very serious in his goal of dismantling Obamacare. Dr. Price has offered a plan in the past very different from Obamacare. I think this is move in the right direction and will eventually improve quality […]
DTC in Perspective: Election 2016 and DTC
It is finally over. We have a new President elect. We have a relatively unchanged Senate and House. What does this mean for the DTC Industry? Both candidates were critical of the drug companies during their campaign. President-elect Trump has not said anything about DTC, but he has called for price negotiations with drug companies […]
DTC in Perspective: Merck Launches Branded Shingles Campaign
After years of unbranded ads for shingles, Merck is now promoting its vaccine by brand name. Why the change? Glaxo just filed for approval for its shingles vaccine and Merck now needs to build up the brand Zostavax. When doctors had one choice Merck did not need consumers to ask by brand name. Soon asking […]
DTC in Perspective: California Prop 61 A Dangerous Remedy
In an attempt to mandate lower drug prices California is asking voters to mandate state agencies pay no higher than the Veterans Administration (VA) rate. The VA gets lower negotiated rates than most other payers by as much as 40%. The VA has a formulary and dictates the prices it will pay. Proponents of Prop […]