Health and Medical News

At a time when pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars on advertising drugs to customers directly, a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), finds that such advertising doesn't garner enough returns.

The magnitude direct-to-consumer advertising is massive, for example in 2005 itself the pharmaceutical industry spent over US$ 4 billion on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. However, the results of the study by Harvard Medical School raises serious questions about its efficacy.

“There wasn't an ounce of effect for a drug for arthritis, and a drug for allergies,” felt the Harvard Medical School professor Stephen Soumerai and one of the authors of the study. Oops! If you thought advertising was simple for the medical industry think again.

They carried out this study on 3 well advertised drugs Etanercept (meant for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Mometasone furoate (an anti-allergic drug) and Tegaserod used to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Lasting a wonderful five years, the research compared the prescription habits of French Canadians, 95% of whom don't watch US Television, with the prescription habits Canadians residing in English dominant regions, who do watch TV programs aired from the US.

So does it mean that pharmaceutical companies shouldn't advertise direct to customers? Perhaps it depends on what they advertise, since when it comes to arthritis and allergy medications, customers have many options. And when there are so many competitors trying to out pace each other, then there's a higher probability of an advertiser's pitch getting lost in the noise.

However, experts also feel that direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising does fare well when it's about new and innovative drug treatments.

There's also a curious aspect to drug advertising, and that's recounting of the side effects. By the time the main pitch has moved the audience, the narration of side effects causes the persuasive message to lose steam.

About the Author: Fred is a journalist with 7 years of experience. Though, as a professional he's reported on myriad topics, his favorites are the auto and the healthcare industry. Two platforms he's previously worked on are Themedica and Automotive-Online. He now blogs at: Smiling Health.