An Assessment of the Health System Impacts of Direct-To-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Medicines. Vol. II.
| Authors | Mintzes B |
|---|---|
| Source | Literature Review. Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs: What do we know thus far about its effects on health and health care services? Vancouver (BC): Centre for Health Services and Policy Research; August 2001. (120 pages) |
| Abstract | The United States and New Zealand are the only industrialized countries that allow direct-toconsumer advertising of prescription medicines (DTCA). Spending on DTCA in the US has grown rapidly, from US $55.3 million in 1991 to $340 million in 1995 and an estimated $1.8 billion in 1999. Since late 1997, when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) eased restrictions on broadcast advertising, there has been a large increase in television advertising in
the US. New Zealand's experience with DTCA is more recent and less extensive than the US experience, and the Ministry of Health carried out a review of DTCA in 2000-2001 with the potential aim of introducing restrictions. Although DTCA is not currently allowed under Canada's Food and Drug Act, the federal government is considering legislative changes to introduce it as part of a broader process of legislative renewal. Additionally, Canadians are increasingly exposed to cross-border advertising of prescription drugs, indirect and disease-oriented advertising originating in Canada, and ads on the Internet. This literature review examines the current state of knowledge about the effects of DTCA on health and health service utilization, based in large part on the US and New Zealand experiences. From a public health perspective, two key questions frame this discussion: |
| Code | HPRU 02:02D |
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