Download drug companies and the media

Drug Companies and the
Media
by
Dr. Angus Robin & Dr. Nabeela Hasan
Bradford VTS 2008
The Cynical Part of The
Presentation
 Aims
 Look at types of Media drug companies use
 Does their use of media affect us?
 Advertising in Journals
 Quiz –guess the advert
 Direct to Consumer Advertising
Drug Companies’ Use of Media
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Reps
Journal articles
Supplements
‘Ordinary’ Magazines
Direct advertising to us & patients
Disease Awareness Groups
Television
Internet
Ways Drug Companies Use
Journals, Articles & Trials (1)
 ‘Advertorials’-advertisers may offer to buy
advertising if it can be accompanied by favourable
editorial mentions of their products
 ‘Reprinting Trials’- Drug companies spend money
on reprinting well known, valuable trials & put
their adverts alongside them
Ways Drug Companies Use
Journals, Articles & Trials (2)
 The best trial asks a simple, medically important
question, is properly randomised (to avoid bias),
and is conducted on a large scale (to avoid getting
the wrong answer by chance).
 BUT there are many ways to debase the process
for marketing purposes.
Ways to corrupt science to
promote drugs
 Seeding and switching trials
 Postmarketing surveillance
 Equivalence trials
 Doses
[BMJ 2003;326:1202-1205 ]
Drug Adverts
We all flick through journals and medical papers
like pulse and see ads for drugs constantly.
Do you read them?
Do you laugh at them / pity them?
Do you think they have any effect?
Advertising
 Advertising - most obvious & straightforward way
in which drug companies use medical journals
 V. lucrative
 Many countries have many publications that are
sent free to doctors & entirely paid for by
advertising.
 Pharmaceutical advertising almost certainly does
affect prescribing
(Gottlieb S. Congress criticises drugs industry for misleading
advertising. BMJ 2002;325: 137)
 Publishers have calculated a return on investment
of drug advertising & argued that it produces a
better return than spending money on drug
company representatives.
Evidence that Drug Advertising
Can Be Misleading
 A US congressional inquiry reported that from
August 1997 to August 2002 the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) issued 88 letters accusing
drug companies of advertising violations (Gottlieb S.
Congress criticises drugs industry for misleading advertising. BMJ 2002;325: 137)
 In many cases companies overstated the
effectiveness of the drug or minimised its
risks.
Disease mongering
‘Medicalisation of life’ was coined back in the
70’s.
Describes the widening of illness boundaries to
increase markets for treatments (both the sellers
and deliverers – ie. Us!).
Healthy become patients.
Wastes resources.
Iatrogenic harm.
Professional and commercial interests
Recent BMJ piece
An American drug company is planning to
release a placebo called Obecalp.
The idea came from wanting to give a
hypochondriacal child something to calm down,
and no placebos were in the drug store.
Cherry flavoured dextrose pill and planning a
liquid version next.
[BMJ 2008;336:1316 (7 June)]
So here follows a few drug ads most of us will
have seen.
If you don’t read the BMJ/Pulse/Hospital Dr/GP
than you’ll probably still be able to guess what a
few of these are for.
Try to think;
which type of drug?
why advertised like this?
name of drug?
What is Direct To Consumer
Advertising?
 ‘The promotion of prescription drugs by
pharmaceutical companies directly to consumers
via broadcast and print media such as television,
radio, magazines, billboards, and also the
Internet.’
Direct to Consumer Advertising
 Advertising non-prescription medicines to the
public is permitted in the UK
 DTC advertising of prescription-only medicines
is strictly currently prohibited in UK & rest of
EU
 Is allowed in USA & NZ
Direct to Consumer Advertising
(2)
 In US , no. of scripts/person & money spent on
scripts rose dramatically BUT this did not
correlate with improvement on health
 Has been recent pressure in EU & Canada to lift
ban
 Internet is not strongly policed so DTCA can occur
in EU
Arguments For DTCA
 People want and need information on medicines
 Advertisements will help people to get needed
medical care at an earlier stage
 Advertisements will lead to better compliance
 A doctor’s prescription is needed, so the patient is
protected.
Arguments Against DCTA (1)
 Prescription drugs are not like other consumer
goods. Even when used properly, they can cause
serious harm
 People are vulnerable when they are ill
 Sick and worried patients are less likely to exercise
critical judgment of varied information sources.
 Adding to medicalisation of conditions (pill for
every ill)
Arguments Against DCTA (2)
 Advertising increases patient pressure on doctors
for reasons unrelated to medical evidence
REMEMBER
 Advertisements aim to stimulate
sales.
 They cannot provide impartial,
objective information.
 Be wary of drug advertising &
drug reps!
 Say no to DTCA !
THE END