Healthy Skepticism Library item: 15315

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Brown S
Striving for quality use of medicines: how effective is Australia's ban on direct-to-consumer prescription medicine advertising.
J Law Med 2009 Feb; 16:(4):666-83
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19297873

Abstract:

The potential for both positive and negative effects arising from direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines challenges health policymakers to develop regulatory schemes which selectively capture the positive aspects of the practice. Australia has dealt with this quandary by banning the practice, while New Zealand and the United States permit it. However, in recent times pharmaceutical companies have been increasingly successful in introducing promotional materials into the Australian market. This article demonstrates that the Australian ban is consistent with striving for the major policy goal of quality use of medicines, thus providing the basis for arguing that solutions to strengthen the ban against the identified threats ought to be implemented. Quality use of medicines can be most effectively achieved via the combined effect of the strengthened ban and the mimicking of the limited positive aspects of direct-to-consumer advertising by government provision of non-promotional information to consumers.

sonjaibrown@gmail.com

Keywords:
Publication Types: Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't PMID: 19297873 [PubMed - in process]