Canadians Want to Avoid Drug Advertising
Allowing direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription
drugs in Canada would be a bonanza for the media, generating an estimated
$360-million a year in new ads. But the demand it created would also spur
as much as $1.2-billion a year in new drug sales. This was reported in
the September 1st issue of the Globe and Mail from Canada. The concern as
reported in the publication, is that the bulk of that expense would be
placed on the Canadian Medicare system.
Opposition to allowing direct-to-consumer drug
advertising was strongly stated in the September 1st issue of the Canadian
Medical Association Journal when the editor,
Dr.
John Hoey, stated his opinion that prescription drugs should not be
advertised in Canada in the same manner as other consumer products because
that could lead to dangerous excesses, as has occurred in the United
States.
The article noted that pharmaceutical companies
spent $2.7-billion (U.S.) on advertising in 2001, more than triple the
amount they spent in 1996. The article noted that for the drug companies,
massive advertising pays off very well. For example, for each dollar that
went to publicizing the allergy drug Claritin, sales of the drug increased
by an estimated $3.50. The financial return on anti-impotence medication
such as Viagra and drugs to counter hair loss are believed to be even
higher.
Dr. Hoey went on to say, "By being marketed in media
traditionally used to flog cars, fast food and shampoo, prescription drugs
have become name-brand commodities, enveloped in the kind of fantasy and
desire that surrounds the purchase of lifestyle product." The article
continued, "Further, the barrage of advertising contributes to the 'medicalization'
of the normal human condition and transforms people into 'two-legged
bundles of diagnoses'."
An additional research article published in the same
Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that the higher a patient's
exposure to advertising, the more likely that patient was to request
advertised prescription drugs. Chief researcher for that study, Dr.
Barbara Mintzes of the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at
the University of British Columbia concluded, "Our results suggest that
more advertising leads to more requests for advertised medicines, and more
prescriptions."
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