Oct. 17, 2013 – In his Drugwonks.com blog yesterday, Peter Pitts, President and Co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, said that the assertion in two recent articles in The New York Times that direct-to-consumer advertising is driving up drug prices is “not true.” An Oct. 15 Times article states: “Such advertising […]
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DTC advertisingFDA Denies Citizen Petition to Increase DTC Ad Font Size
June 28, 2013 – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently denied a 2009 petition from the Pharmacists Planning Service Inc. (PPSI) requesting that the FDA “standardize and increase print size for direct-to-consumer [DTC] advertising for readability of patients and consumers,” particularly the elderly. In a June 10 letter to the petitioner, Center for Drug […]
Read moreSenate Tax Reform Options Include Denying DTC Deductions
June 3, 2013 – As predicted, tax deductions for the cost of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising for prescription drugs are among those being considered for elimination, according to a recent document issued by the Senate Finance Committee. The May 23 option paper on Economic Security – the seventh in a series of papers compiling tax reform […]
Read moreDTC Study Does Not Claim DTC Ads Cause Doctors to Prescribe Inappropriately
May 23, 2013 – A study of the effect of direct-to-consumer advertising for statin drugs on physician prescribing that recently was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine “does not claim DTC advertising causes physicians to inappropriately prescribe medications,” according to Peter Pitts, president and co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. […]
Read moreWhite Paper Examines FDA Enforcement in Digital, Social Media Realm
April 4, 2013 – A new White Paper, “,” issued April 2 by Eye on FDA/Fleishman-Hillard, is based on analysis of a database of FDA/Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) enforcement letters, and takes a close look at how, in the absence of FDA guidance on digital communications and social media, the agency enforces alleged violations […]
Read more“Cyberspace Is Not Without Boundaries,” FTC States in Digital Advertising Guidelines
March 19, 2013 – Although the FDA has not yet issued its long-awaited social media guidance for the biopharma industry, whatever guidelines it drafts on this topic are likely to be informed by the staff guidance document issued last week by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC’s new guidance, “.com Disclosures,” revises an FTC […]
Read moreOPDP Restructuring Divisions To Provide “Close Oversight” of DTC Advertising
March 8, 2013 – The Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) today announced that it would be restructuring two of its divisions – the Division of Consumer Drug Promotion and the Division of Professional Drug Promotion – to better oversee direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. According to a memo to Center for Drug Evaluation Research staff from […]
Read moreStudy Cites Benefits of Pharma’s Promotional Efforts
March 4, 2013 – A recent study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) states that although consumer-directed drug promotion increases utilization and thus overall drug costs, it also helps to educate consumers, induce physician contact and promote adherence. “It’s refreshing to see a balanced study of DTC,” notes John Kamp, Executive Director […]
Read moreFDA Responds to Comments on Proposed Corrective DTC Advertising Study
Jan. 3, 2013 – In the FDA’s view, researchers and policymakers “currently lack empirical literature regarding the various influences” of corrective direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising on prescription drug consumers. To forward the development of this literature, the FDA’s plans to conduct an experimental study on this issue are moving forward. In a Dec. 26, 2012, Federal Register […]
Read moreIndustry on DTC Advertising Study: An Informed Patient Enables Better Care
Dec. 3, 2012 – Several industry advertising experts have weighed in regarding what message drug companies should take from a recent study published in Cancer regarding the impact of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising for aromatase inhibitors (AIs). The study, released in November, found that DTC advertising (DTCA) for AIs “was associated with increases in appropriate prescriptions […]
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