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from the how-will-we-find-the-newest-ED-drugs dept.
AP reports that the American Medical Association has called for a ban on direct-to-consumer ads for prescription drugs and implantable medical devices, saying they contribute to rising costs and patients' demands for inappropriate treatment. According to data cited in an AMA news release, ad dollars spent by drugmakers have risen to $4.5 billion in the last two years, a 30 percent increase. Physicians cited concerns that a growing proliferation of ads is driving demand for expensive treatments despite the clinical effectiveness of less costly alternatives. "Today's vote in support of an advertising ban reflects concerns among physicians about the negative impact of commercially-driven promotions, and the role that marketing costs play in fueling escalating drug prices," said AMA Board Chair-elect Patrice A. Harris, M.D., M.A. "Direct-to-consumer advertising also inflates demand for new and more expensive drugs, even when these drugs may not be appropriate."
The AMA also calls for convening a physician task force and launching an advocacy campaign to promote prescription drug affordability by demanding choice and competition in the pharmaceutical industry, and greater transparency in prescription drug prices and costs. Last month, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a report saying that a high cost of prescription drugs remains the public's top health care priority. In the past few years, prices on generic and brand-name prescription drugs have steadily risen and experienced a 4.7 percent spike in 2015, according to the Altarum Institute Center for Sustainable Health Spending.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 19 2015, @01:14AM
Why should there be any advertising? A pharmaceutical is a purely utilitarian product, like salt or bottled ammonia: The "advertising" should be a bland, dry list of diseases, conditions, and/or symptoms that this drug may treat, along with a list of side-effects, and perhaps some other data fields.
[?xml?]
[drug]
[name]foobaristim[/name]
[disease]whateveritis[/disease]
[disease]somethingelseosis[/disease]
[side-effect]irritation[/side-effect]
[side-effect]swelling[/side-effect]
[side-effect]defenestration[/side-effect]
[notes]...[/notes]
[/drug]
This then gets published into some centralized database physicians look diseases up in. There ya go.
(Score: 1) by Squidious on Thursday November 19 2015, @03:15AM
The side effects could use a "chance of experiencing" percentage derived from the test results. I always wonder about that in the advertisements.
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