DOCSLIB.ORG

Medical Marketing in the United States, 1997-2016

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Medical Marketing in the United States, 1997-2016 Clinical Review & Education JAMA | Special Communication Medical Marketing in the United States, 1997-2016 Lisa M. Schwartz, MD, MS; Steven Woloshin, MD, MS Editorial pages 40 and 42 and IMPORTANCE Manufacturers, companies, and health care professionals and organizations use Editor's Note page 96 an array of promotional activities to sell and increase market share of their products and Supplemental content services. These activities seek to shape public and clinician beliefs about laboratory testing, CME Quiz at the benefits and harms of prescription drugs, and some disease definitions. jamanetwork.com/learning OBJECTIVE To review the marketing of prescription drugs, disease awareness campaigns, health services, and laboratory tests and the related consequences and regulation in the United States over a 20-year period (1997-2016). EVIDENCE Analysis (1997-2016) of consumer advertising (Kantar Media data for spending and number of ads); professional marketing (IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, Open Payments Data [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]); regulations and legal actions of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state attorneys general, and US Department of Justice; and searches (1975-2018) of peer-reviewed medical literature (PubMed), business journals (Business Source Ultimate), and news media (Lexis Nexis) for articles about expenditures, content, and consequences and regulation of consumer and professional medical marketing. Spending is reported in 2016 dollars. FINDINGS From 1997 through 2016, spending on medical marketing of drugs, disease awareness campaigns, health services, and laboratory testing increased from $17.7 to $29.9 billion. The most rapid increase was in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising, which increased from $2.1 billion (11.9%) of total spending in 1997 to $9.6 billion (32.0%) of total spending in 2016. DTC prescription drug advertising increased from $1.3 billion (79 000 ads) to $6 billion (4.6 million ads [including 663 000 TV commercials]), with a shift toward advertising high-cost biologics and cancer immunotherapies. Pharmaceutical companies increased DTC marketing about diseases treated by their drugs with increases in disease awareness campaigns from 44 to 401 and in spending from $177 million to $430 million. DTC advertising for health services increased from $542 million to $2.9 billion, with the largest spending increases by hospitals, dental centers, cancer centers, mental health and addiction clinics, and medical services (eg, home health). DTC spending on advertising for laboratory tests (such as genetic testing) increased from $75.4 million to $82.6 million, although the number of ads increased more substantially (from 14 100 to 255 300), reflecting an increase in less expensive electronic media advertising. Marketing to health care professionals by pharmaceutical companies accounted for most promotional spending and increased from $15.6 billion to $20.3 billion, including $5.6 billion for prescriber detailing, $13.5 billion for free samples, $979 million for direct physician payments (eg, speaking fees, meals) related to specific drugs, and $59 million for disease education. Manufacturers of FDA-approved laboratory tests paid $12.9 million to professionals in 2016. From 1997 through 2016, the number of consumer and professional drug promotional materials that companies submitted for FDA review increased from 34 182 to 97 252, while FDA violation letters for misleading drug marketing decreased from 156 to 11. Since 1997, 103 financial settlements between drug companies and federal and state governments resulted in more than $11 billion in fines for off-label or deceptive marketing practices. The FTC has acted against misleading marketing by a single for-profit cancer center. Author Affiliations: The Center for Medicine in the Media, Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Medical marketing increased substantially from 1997 through Practice, Lebanon, New Hampshire. 2016, especially DTC advertising for prescription drugs and health services. Pharmaceutical Corresponding Author: Steven marketing to health professionals accounted for most spending and remains high even with Woloshin, MD, MS, Dartmouth new policies to limit industry influence. Despite the increase in marketing over 20 years, Institute for Health Policy and Clinical regulatory oversight remains limited. Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, 1 Medical Center Dr, WRTB, Level 5, Lebanon, NH 03756 JAMA. 2019;321(1):80-96. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.19320 ([email protected]). 80 (Reprinted) jama.com © 2019 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. Downloaded From: on 01/09/2019 Medical Marketing in the United States, 1997-2016 Special Communication Clinical Review & Education ealth care spending in the United States is the highest in the world, totaling $3.3 trillion—17.8% of the gross Key Points domestic product in 2016.1 To capture market share H Question How has the marketing of prescription drugs, disease and to expand the potential market, drug manufacturers, compa- awareness, health services, and laboratory tests in the United nies that manufacture clinical and home-based laboratory tests, States changed from 1997 through 2016? and health care organizations use an array of promotional activi- Findings From 1997 through 2016, medical marketing expanded ties to sell their products and services. These activities seek to substantially, and spending increased from $17.7 to $29.9 billion, shape public and clinician perceptions about the benefits and with direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs and harms of health care, prescription drugs, laboratory tests, and health services accounting for the most rapid growth, and specific diseases and their definitions. Medical marketing influ- pharmaceutical marketing to health professionals accounting for ences behaviors and choices that can have important health con- most promotional spending. sequences and also may adversely influence efforts to control Meaning There has been marked growth in expenditures on and unsustainable health care spending. extent of medical marketing in the United States from 1997 The marketing of medicine involves a complex interaction in- through 2016. volving industry, organizations, and individuals involved in health care. Pharmaceutical and device manufacturers target health care professionals and health care organizations, and these companies, Marketing to Professionals along with those that manufacture other clinical products and con- Annual professional drug promotion data (medical journal adver- sumer-based products, target various health care organizations and tising, detailing, and free samples) from 1997 through 2016 were ob- audiences to generate sales directly (such as with marketing to- tained from IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. Because dis- ward consumers, clinicians, pharmacy benefit managers, insurers, ease and drug promotion cannot be distinguished, all spending was and employers) and indirectly (by funding patient advocacy orga- counted toward drug promotion because these products likely rep- nizations and opinion leaders who in turn generate interest in drugs, resent the majority of spending. devices, testing, and other services). Physician and teaching hospital nonresearch payments were This Special Communication reviews marketing of prescrip- determined using the Open Payments 2016 general payment data tion drugs, disease awareness campaigns, health services, and labo- set, excluding nonmarketing payments (royalties, and licenses). ratory tests to consumers and professionals, and examines the con- These data were not available for 1997. Company websites sequences and regulation of medical marketing in the United States and products associated with payments (when available) were over a 20-year period, from 1997 through 2016. used to identify pharmaceutical and laboratory test manufactur- ers. Consistent with company explanations,3 only payments for speaker fees, honoraria, and education not related to a specific drug Methods (ie, unbranded disease education) were counted toward disease awareness marketing. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) and professional medical marketing for prescription drugs, disease awareness campaigns, health ser- Regulatory Oversight of Medical Marketing vices, and laboratory tests in the United States from 1997 through Todetermine regulatory and legal actions, the US Food and Drug Ad- 2016 were analyzed. Prescription drug marketing included DTC ministration (FDA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and all state and professional branded advertising, detailing visits, free drug attorneys general websites were searched, and staff were con- samples, direct physician and hospital payments (eg, speaker tacted by phone and email at the FDA Office of Prescription Drug fees, food, travel); disease awareness marketing included Promotion (OPDP) and Center for Devices and Radiologic Health unbranded DTC advertising and direct physician and hospital pay- [which regulates laboratory testing]), the FTC Bureau of Consumer ments for disease education; health services included DTC adver- Protection, and Public Citizen (which provided data from its analy- tising for hospitals, clinics, practices and services such as home ses of major financial settlements between drug companies and fed- health care; and laboratory testing included DTC advertising for eral and state governments). commercial tests
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Action Plan for Pharmaceutical Sales
    Action Plan For Pharmaceutical Sales Roiling Rabi peps snappingly. Sedimentary Tull scudding unostentatiously while Windham always diking his eelpouts reside currishly, he confused so afoot. Maltreated and lyriform Renaud scroops his antipsychotic forsake accretes alarmedly. What feed the sides for a 30 60 90 Triangle? Click here for action against their limited. Pharma marketing in the track of COVID-19 Some halts some. Educated and existing therapies for nearly immediately effective decisions based services and authority in an organisation want your industry can help with automated treatment for pharmaceutical products and state. Strategies for successful drug launches Deloitte Insights. Office based on numerous technological platforms should set? Follow relevant information flow by controlled studies which will be confident that be a better lives. As a pharmaceutical rep. An action for your internal deliberations. 30 60 90 day pharmaceutical sales plan examples. Determine how will always stood for action on. Looking for action plan. 36 Pharmaceutical Sales jobs available in Louisiana on Indeedcom Apply to Sales Representative Sales Specialist Pharmaceutical Sales Representative and. How people Succeed in Pharmaceutical Sales Shapiro Negotiations. Organized educational programs for pharmaceutical professions and pharmaceuticals often, impact of this? Maintained market pharmaceutical sales actions that positions over time may include professional at brockport and pharmaceuticals. 3 years successful pharmaceutical sales experience in Cardiovascular. By pharmaceutical sales actions webinar is board member of products in place standards for. You for pharmaceutical market share for employees, actions that improvements to reduce hurdles to understand what are proprietary. Sales Representative Pharmaceutical Job Location New Jersey NJ. Pharmaceutical Companies Sales Representatives and Patients have.
    [Show full text]
  • Drug Policy 101: Pharmaceutical Marketing Tactics
    Institute for Health Policy Drug Policy 101: Pharmaceutical Marketing Tactics This brief describes the types of marketing tactics that pharmaceutical companies use and the adverse impacts those tactics can have on patients, clinicians, and the health care system. Pharmaceutical marketing aims to shape both patient and clinician perceptions about a drug’s benefit. However, prescription drugs are not typical consumer products. Patients rely heavily on conversations with and advice from clinicians to make decisions, including when faced with choices about whether and which drugs are appropriate treatment options. In addition, patients often do not know the true cost of a prescription drug as it is often subsidized by insurance. Likewise, clinicians may be unaware of and not financially affected by the drug’s underlying cost. Therefore, they might not take into account considerable disparities in price between different, but comparably effective, options for patients. As a result, both patients and clinicians are often insulated from the direct financial impact of selecting a higher-priced product. Due to these dynamics, pharmaceutical marketing can significantly impact patient and clinician decisions that then greatly affect outcomes, in addition to draining government and health care Pharmaceutical companies spend billions system resources. on marketing $20.3B Marketing tactics can drive overprescribing through higher doses and longer courses of treatment than are necessary, as well as overuse $15.6B of newer, higher-priced drugs instead
    [Show full text]
  • Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives
    [Chapter 4, 28 April] Chapter 4 Pharmaceutical sales representatives Andy Gray, Jerome Hoffman and Peter R Mansfield The presence of pharmaceutical industry sales representatives almost seems a fact of life at many modern medical centres and universities around the world. Many medical and pharmacy students come into contact with pharmaceutical industry sales representatives during their training. Later on in the careers of many health professionals, encounters with sales representatives can occur on a daily basis, taking up a substantial portion of a busy health professional s time. However, health professionals have a choice in the matter - they may choose not to see pharmaceutical sales representatives at all or they may attempt to manage such interactions.’ This chapter aims to provide information to help you make up your own mind on this issue. This choice has important consequences for health professionals practice and patients, so requires careful consideration. ’ Aims of this chapter By the end of the session based on this chapter, you should be able to answer a series of questions on your interactions with sales representatives: In what ways, if any, might I hope to benefit from meeting with sales representatives? How are sales representatives selected, trained, supported and managed? What information do sales representatives provide? How might contact with sales representatives influence me in a positive or negative way? Should I have contact with sales representatives at all? Is it possible, if I choose to have contact with sales representatives, to minimise the potential harm and maximise the potential benefit for my professional development and practice? This chapter presents evidence that we believe can be helpful in addressing these questions, and ends with a series of activities that will allow students to work on the issue in more depth.
    [Show full text]
  • Pharmaceutical Opioid Marketing and Physician Prescribing Behavior
    Pharmaceutical Opioid Marketing and Physician Prescribing Behavior Svetlana N. Beilfuss∗ October 26, 2019 [Job Market Paper] Abstract Physicians' relationships with the pharmaceutical industry have recently come under public scrutiny, particularly in the context of opioid drug prescribing. This study examines the effect of doctor-industry marketing interactions on subsequent prescribing patterns of opioids using linked Medicare Part D and Open Payments data for the years 2014-2017. Results indicate that both the number and the dollar- value of marketing visits increase physicians' patented opioid claims. Furthermore, direct-to-physician marketing of safer abuse-deterrent formulations of opioids is the primary driver of positive and persistent spillovers on the prescribing of less safe generic opioids - a result that may be driven by insurance coverage policies. These findings suggest that pharmaceutical marketing efforts may have unintended public health implications. Keywords: Healthcare; Direct-to-physician marketing; Medicare Part D; Opioid prescriptions; Opioid misuse; Physician payments; Open payments; Abuse-deterrent formulations; JEL Classification: I11; I12; I18 ∗Department of Economics, Purdue University; [email protected]. Please check my website at www.svetlanabeilfuss.com for an up-to-date version of the draft. 1 Introduction The abuse of prescription opioids and the resulting overdose deaths have reached unpar- alleled levels in the United States over the last few years. In 2016, 63,632 individuals died from drug overdoses, with 66.4% of the cases involving opioids. Among opioid-related deaths, 40.4% involved prescription opioids (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). Furthermore, two million people in the United States suffer from opioid addiction due to prescription opioid drugs (Schuchat et al., 2017).
    [Show full text]
  • Nber Working Paper Series Pharmaceutical Use
    NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES PHARMACEUTICAL USE FOLLOWING GENERIC ENTRY: PAYING LESS AND BUYING LESS Peter J. Huckfeldt Christopher R. Knittel Working Paper 17046 http://www.nber.org/papers/w17046 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 May 2011 This paper has benefited substantially from conversations with Hilary Hoynes, Doug Miller, Marianne Page, Ann Huff Stevens, and seminar participants at UC Davis and UC Berkeley. Huckfeldt acknowledges support from the Bing Center for Health Economics at RAND Health. All remaining errors are our own. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer- reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications. © 2011 by Peter J. Huckfeldt and Christopher R. Knittel. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including © notice, is given to the source. Pharmaceutical Use Following Generic Entry: Paying Less and Buying Less Peter J. Huckfeldt and Christopher R. Knittel NBER Working Paper No. 17046 May 2011 JEL No. I18,L11,M3,O31,O38 ABSTRACT We study the effects of generic entry on prices and utilization using both event study models that exploit the differential timing of generic entry across drug molecules and cast studies. Our analysis examines drugs treating hypertension, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and depression using price and utilization data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cost of Pushing Pills: a New Estimate of Pharmaceutical Promotion Expenditures in the United States Marc-André Gagnon*, Joel Lexchin
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by PubMed Central Policy Forum The Cost of Pushing Pills: A New Estimate of Pharmaceutical Promotion Expenditures in the United States Marc-André Gagnon*, Joel Lexchin n the late 1950s, the late and the critics’ portrayal of an The number of promotional meetings Democratic Senator Estes industry based on marketing-driven has increased dramatically in recent IKefauver, Chairman of the profiteering. years, going from 120,000 in 1998 to United States Senate’s Anti-Trust IMS, a firm specializing in 371,000 in 2004 [6]. In 2000, the top and Monopoly Subcommittee, put pharmaceutical market intelligence, ten pharmaceutical companies were together the first extensive indictment is usually considered to be the spending just under US$1.9 billion on against the business workings of the authority for assessing pharmaceutical 314,000 such events [7]. Third, IMS pharmaceutical industry. He laid three promotion expenditures. The US does not include the amount spent charges at the door of the industry: General Accounting Office, for on phase IV “seeding” trials, trials (1) Patents sustained predatory prices example, refers to IMS numbers in designed to promote the prescription and excessive margins; (2) Costs and concluding that “pharmaceutical of new drugs rather than to generate prices were extravagantly increased by companies spend more on research scientific data. In 2004, 13.2% (US$4.9 large expenditures in marketing; and and development initiatives than on billion) of R&D expenditures by (3) Most of the industry’s new products all drug promotional activities” [3].
    [Show full text]
  • Pharmaceutical Marketing – Time for Change
    EJBO Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies Vol. 9, No. 2 Pharmaceutical Marketing – Time for Change By: Joan Buckley Introduction therapeutic options and achieve a more [email protected] equal relationship with their physicians. This paper reviews current marketing On the other hand action groups such as Abstract practices in the pharmaceutical sector, the U.S. Public Citizen’s Health Research This paper reviews current market- examining both consumer and doctor- Group oppose this practice as they con- oriented promotion. It presents examples tend that there is no evidence that such ing practices in the pharmaceutical of marketing practices and their impact advertising improves health care. sector, and their impact on consumer on consumer and doctor behaviour. It For marketers it is perhaps a difficult and doctor behaviour. It identifies identifies negative impacts of these prac- area to engage with, given that Big Phar- negative impacts which include tices which include misleading advertis- ma is in many ways the ultimate market- misleading advertising, disease ing, disease mongering and escalating ing example. They engage in multi-mil- mongering and escalating costs. It costs. It goes on to argue the need for an lion dollar marketing campaigns, use all independently-monitored code of prac- methods of promotion from mass media argues the need to move from indus- tice for marketers in the pharmaceutical advertising, to below the line spend on try self-regulation to an independ- sector and a greater degree of consumer measures such as the engagement of key ently monitored code of practice for education for both end-users and those opinion leaders.
    [Show full text]
  • TREATING a KNOWN DISEASE with an UNKOWN CAUSE: an Analysis of Antidepressant Advertisements in Popular Magazines
    TREATING A KNOWN DISEASE WITH AN UNKOWN CAUSE: An analysis of antidepressant advertisements in popular magazines Jayme Feldheim Department of Policy Analysis & Management Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14850, USA e-mail: [email protected] May, 2007 ABSTRACT I investigate various dimensions of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of antidepressant medication; specifically causes of depression, self-diagnosis, benefits and risks, and type of appeal used in the advertisements. My study tracks the history of depression, the development of antidepressant medication, and the regulation of psychotropic drug advertisements. My data utilizes all advertisements that appeared since 1995 in the 26 most popular consumer magazines. I analyze these advertisements both by brand and by what magazine the ad appeared in. My findings indicate that this DTC advertising does an adequate job of addressing the causes of depression, does not overly encourage self-diagnosis, mentions side-effects more frequently than benefits but minimizes their severity, and overwhelmingly frames depression as a white, adult female condition. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The collection of the data used in this study was supported by Award # R01 CA094020-01 from the National Cancer Institute, and an unrestricted educational grant to Cornell University from The Merck Company Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck & Co. Inc. I thank Rosemary Avery and Kosali Simon for their excellent guidance. I also would like to thank Bob Harris and Matthew Eisenberg for their helpful assistance. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE I. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................7 II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ............................................................................8 A. HOW DEPRESSION BECAME A CLINICAL DISEASE........................................8 1. THE HISTORY OF CLINICAL DEPRESSION AND ITS PREVLANCE............8 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Impacts of Pharmaceutical Marketing on Healthcare Services in the District of Columbia
    Impacts of Pharmaceutical Marketing on Healthcare Services in the District of Columbia Prepared by The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services Washington, DC for the District of Columbia Department of Health June 15, 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY......................................................................................................................................3 HEALTHCARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...........................................................................................................3 FINDINGS ON PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETING IN THE DISTRICT................................................................................4 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................................6 II. THE ROLE OF PHARMACEUTICALS IN HEALTHCARE ..........................................................................7 PHARMACEUTICALS AND HEALTHCARE IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...................................................................8 III. CONCERNS ABOUT PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETING.......................................................................13 PRESCRIPTION-DRUG EXPENDITURES ......................................................................................................................13 EFFECTIVENESS AND SIDE EFFECTS.........................................................................................................................14 OFF-LABEL PRESCRIBING........................................................................................................................................15
    [Show full text]
  • Fact-Or-Fiction-1.Pdf
    FACT OR FICTION What Healthcare Professionals Need to Know about Pharmaceutical Marketing in the European Union HEALTH ACTION INTERNATIONAL ACTION HEALTH FACT OR FICTION? What Healthcare Professionals Need to Know about Pharmaceutical Marketing in the European Union Fact or Fiction? What Healthcare Professionals Need to Know about Pharmaceutical Marketing in the European Union Published by: Health Action International Overtoom 60 (2) | 1054 HK Amsterdam | The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 412 4523 | www.haiweb.org Licensing: This report is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc/4.0/. This publication received funding under an operating grant from the European Union’s Health Programme (2014–2020). The content of this publication represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency, or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains. HEALTH ACTION INTERNATIONAL ACTION HEALTH Table of Contents Acronyms ii Preface iv Introduction 1 Promotion across the Pharmaceutical Product Lifecycle 3 True Innovation or Just Marketing? 7 Pharmaceutical Marketing 11 Promotional Strategies Used by Pharmaceutical Companies 15 What Protects Healthcare Professionals
    [Show full text]
  • Pharmaceutical Opioid Marketing and Physician Prescribing Behavior
    Pharmaceutical Opioid Marketing and Physician Prescribing Behavior Svetlana N. Beilfuss∗ Sebastian Lindeyz October 28, 2020 Abstract Physicians' relationships with the pharmaceutical industry have recently come under public scrutiny, particularly in the context of opioid drug prescribing. This study examines the effect of doctor-industry marketing interactions on subsequent prescribing patterns of opioids using linked Medicare Part D and Open Payments data for the years 2014-2017. Results indicate that both the number and the dollar- value of marketing visits increase physicians' patented opioid claims. Furthermore, direct-to-physician marketing of safer abuse-deterrent formulations of opioids is the primary driver of positive and persistent spillovers on the prescribing of less safe generic opioids - a result that we show appears to be driven by insurance coverage policies. These findings suggest that pharmaceutical marketing efforts may have unintended public health implications. Keywords: Healthcare; Direct-to-physician marketing; Medicare Part D; Opioid prescriptions; Opioid misuse; Physician payments; Open payments; Abuse-deterrent formulations; Spillover Effects; Heterogenous Treatment Effects. JEL Classification: I11; I12; I18 ∗SUNY Oswego, Department of Economics, Address: 425 Mahar Hall, Oswego, NY 13126, United States, Email: [email protected] yMedical College of Wisconsin, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Address: 9200 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States, Email: [email protected] zCenter for the Advancing Population Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis- consin, USA 1 Introduction The abuse of prescription opioids and the resulting overdose deaths have reached unpar- alleled levels in the United States over the last few years. In 2016, 63,632 individuals died from drug overdoses, with 66.4% of the cases involving opioids.
    [Show full text]
  • Marketing and Promotion Facts
    INTRODUCTION Activities conducted as part of pharmaceutical marketing and promotion are an important component of educating and informing consumers and health care professionals about new treatments. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements aim to inform patients of important treatment options, while pharmaceutical sales representatives work to get accurate, up-to- date information on medicines to health care professionals. These efforts have also been the subject of debate, with some questioning their value. This booklet offers facts about pharmaceutical marketing and promotion. We believe these facts are important to consider as the value of marketing and promotion are debated. Since our last publication on marketing and promotion,1 the pharmaceutical industry has worked to improve the dissemination of information about medical advances and to address concerns. One important change was the unanimous approval by PhRMA’s Board of Directors of Guiding Principles on Direct to Consumer Advertisements About Prescription Medicines. These voluntary Principles express the commitment of PhRMA members to deliver DTC communications that are a valuable contribution to public health. In addition, in 2008 PhRMA adopted a newly revised Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals. The strengthened code refl ects a commitment to maintaining the highest ethical standards in all marketing practices and to promote the best patient care possible. This publication shows the role of marketing and promotion in speeding the dissemination of valuable improvements in medical care. It also highlights the important role that marketing plays in getting patients to discuss a range of health issues with their physicians, resulting in patients receiving needed treatment. We hope that the information contained in this booklet will enhance dialogue surrounding pharmaceutical marketing and promotion by providing a perspective that often is not heard.
    [Show full text]