Trouble Spots in Online Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Promotion: Teaching Drug Marketers How to Inform Better or Spin Better?; Comment on “Trouble Spots in Online Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Promotion: A Content Analysis of FDA Warning Letters”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia

Abstract

Hyosun Kim’s report “Trouble Spots in Online Direct to Consumer Prescription Drug Promotion: A content Analysis of FDA Warning Letters”aims to teach marketers how to avoid breaching current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines in their online drug promotion. While Kim hopes to minimise the potential for online promotion to misinform consumers and the study is carefully conducted, teaching drug marketers how to avoid the common mistakes in online drug promotion is more likely to make marketers more adept at spinning information than appropriately balancing it.

Keywords

Main Subjects


  1. Ventola CL. Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising: therapeutic or toxic? P T. 2011;36(10):669-684.
  2. Kim H. Trouble spots in online direct-to-consumer prescription drug promotion: a content analysis of FDA warning letters. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2015;4(12):813-821.  doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2015.157
  3. Hogue MC, Doran E, Henry DA. A prompt to the web: the media and health information seeking behaviour. PloS One. 2012;7(4):e34314. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034314
  4. Doran E, Löfgren H. Drug promotion in Australia: policy contestation and the tightening of regulation.  Australian Review of Public Affairs. 2013;11(2):19-41.
  5. Atherly A, Rubin PH. The cost-effectiveness of direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs. Med Care Res Rev. 2009;66(6):639-657. doi:10.1177/1077558709335362
  6. Harker M, Harker D. Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines: A systematic review of the evidence from the perspective of the consumer.  Journal of Medical Marketing: Device, Diagnostic and Pharmaceutical Marketing. 2007;7(1):45-54. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jmm.5050060
  7. Auton F. The advertising of pharmaceuticals direct to consumers: A critical review of the literature and debate.  International Journal of Advertising. 2004;23(1):23-52. doi:10.1080/02650487.2004.11072871
  8. Auton F. Direct-to-consumer-advertising (DTCA) of pharmaceuticals: An updated review of the literature and debate since 2003. Economic Affairs. 2006;26(3):24-32. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0270.2006.00646.x
  9. Rod M, Saunders S. The informative and persuasive components of pharmaceutical promotion – An argument for why the two can coexist. International Journal of Advertising: The Review of Marketing Communications. 2009;28(2):313-349. doi:10.2501/S0265048709200558
  10. Mackenzie FJ, Jordens CF, Ankeny RA, McPhee J, Kerridge IH. Direct‐to‐consumer advertising under the radar: the need for realistic drugs policy in Australia. Intern Med J. 2007;37(4):224-228.
  11. Mogull SA, Balzhiser D. Pharmaceutical companies are writing the script for health consumerism. Communication Design Quarterly Review. 2015;3(4):35-49.
  12. Mackey TK, Liang BA. It’s time to shine the light on direct-to-consumer advertising. Ann Fam Med. 2015;13(1):82-85. doi:10.1370/afm.1711