Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Advertising, a form of prescription drug promotion paid for by pharmaceutical companies, emerged sometime during 1938. In 1938, Congress passed the marketing. However, DTC advertising was not officially legalized in the United States until Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), which required that all new drugs be proven safe before 1985. In 1997, DTC advertising became very popular, because the FDA finally allowed pharmaceutical companies to advertise their prescription drugs on television. Aside from the United States, New Zealand is the only other country that allows DTC advertising with the addition of product claims. It is either completely banned
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In 2005, the House of Representatives introduced House Bill 3950, which called for an amendment of the FDCA, but was not enacted by Congress. In February of 2016, the House of Representatives came back with House Bill 4565, also known as the Responsibility in Drug Advertising Act of 2016. This act seeks to amend the FDCA to prohibit DTC advertising of new drugs for three years. Under this bill, the FDA would have the power to waive the third year if the new drug was proven to have positive effects for the public. On the other hand, if the drug was found to have adverse side effects, the FDA could choose to extend the prohibition time until further testing is conducted (Congress 3). In the end, H.R. 4565 was not enacted by Congress …show more content…
Since the money ultimately belongs to the company, the public really does not have much say in how they are using it, but healthcare professionals would much rather the money be put into funding for additional medical research. Pharmaceutical companies have allocated quite a large sum of money for consumer advertising, which not only show up on television screens, but also radio channels, magazine pages, newspaper inserts, and even billboards. According to a chart put together by Pharma Marketing News, the U.S. spent $1.2 billion dollars just on DTC advertising. With the subsequent increase in consumers watching tv, pharmaceutical companies started investing more into tv advertisements, leading to an even higher amount of spending into such advertisements year after year. Starting in 2004, spending on DTC advertising seemed stay within the range of $4 to 5.5 billion dollars. The major fluctuations during these years could be accounted for by the financial crisis in 2007 (Williams 13). In 2015, the FDA stated that another $5.2 billion dollars was spent on DTC
In 2005, the House of Representatives introduced House Bill 3950, which called for an amendment of the FDCA, but was not enacted by Congress. In February of 2016, the House of Representatives came back with House Bill 4565, also known as the Responsibility in Drug Advertising Act of 2016. This act seeks to amend the FDCA to prohibit DTC advertising of new drugs for three years. Under this bill, the FDA would have the power to waive the third year if the new drug was proven to have positive effects for the public. On the other hand, if the drug was found to have adverse side effects, the FDA could choose to extend the prohibition time until further testing is conducted (Congress 3). In the end, H.R. 4565 was not enacted by Congress …show more content…
Since the money ultimately belongs to the company, the public really does not have much say in how they are using it, but healthcare professionals would much rather the money be put into funding for additional medical research. Pharmaceutical companies have allocated quite a large sum of money for consumer advertising, which not only show up on television screens, but also radio channels, magazine pages, newspaper inserts, and even billboards. According to a chart put together by Pharma Marketing News, the U.S. spent $1.2 billion dollars just on DTC advertising. With the subsequent increase in consumers watching tv, pharmaceutical companies started investing more into tv advertisements, leading to an even higher amount of spending into such advertisements year after year. Starting in 2004, spending on DTC advertising seemed stay within the range of $4 to 5.5 billion dollars. The major fluctuations during these years could be accounted for by the financial crisis in 2007 (Williams 13). In 2015, the FDA stated that another $5.2 billion dollars was spent on DTC