In July of 1991, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out strongly against prescription drugs being marketed directly to consumers, a stance they reaffirmed in February of 1995. The Academy cited concerns ranging from creating inappropriate product demand to consumer confusion and even possible harm to patients. Those fears may be well grounded. A recent study by IMS America, the leading resource of data, research and analysis to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, concluded that doctors are more likely to write prescriptions for products they encounter advertised online. The study found that doctors who had viewed POL's online messages about a drug prescribed up to 14.2 percent more of that drug per month than did the control group.
Some safeguards are in place, but their effectiveness is questionable.
Tough to do in a 30-second spot. Knowing this, new FDA requirements state that all televised prescription drug ads must be supported by online information. Some pharmaceutical companies are taking full advantage of this dictum, producing entertaining, in-depth web sites for a single product line. Advertising space on popular health and news sites is already at a premium due to rapidly increasing competition. The question is whether consumers read and understand critical product information.