Additional information sources offering a balanced appraisal of the medication's safety and effectiveness must be available for consumers. Any DTCP campaign may be limited for some audiences, e.g., elderly, less literate, and non-English speakers, and should consider the impact on those populations. Health care professionals should receive different messages than consumers regarding medications. Consumers also need usable information about their condition and medication when they receive their prescription medicines. Current Brief Summary For print ads, there was agreement that the brief summary, presented in its entirety, frequently written in small type and technical language, does not communicate useful information to consumers.
Information needs to be less detailed and more consumer friendly.
When an 800 number is a source of information, the provider should give unbiased and accurate information and should not use the contact for promotional purposes. There should be full disclosure to consumers of any information captured through a web site or 800 number, with an opportunity for the consumer to opt out of the program or not be subjected to follow-up phone calls or mailings. The FDA should, separate and apart from its Draft Broadcast Guidance, clarify in a Federal Register notice that its drug advertising regulations will not be interpreted to require dissemination of the complete brief summary as part of a print promotion for a pharmaceutical product. However, useful, consumer-friendly information must be disseminated in conjunction with any and all print or broadcast ad campaigns. Alternatives to the Brief Summary For print ads, the current brief summary format used by most advertisers should be replaced with a more consumer-friendly presentation of information.