AHA urges FDA to expand proposed study of consumer drug advertising

The AHA today urged the Food and Drug Administration to expand its proposed study of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising to include televised and internet advertising and to test the impact of other product information on consumer behavior, such as price and comparative effectiveness data. “Fully testing these facets of DTC advertising is important because of advertising’s contribution to rising drug costs,” wrote Ashley Thompson, AHA senior vice president for public policy analysis and development, noting that nine of the largest drug manufacturers reported spending more on marketing than research and development in 2013. “While pharmaceutical companies routinely cite research and development as the primary driver of high drug prices, their spending patterns demonstrate that product marketing actually has a bigger impact.” The FDA proposes to study how print advertising can affect consumer behavior and beliefs about product efficacy. In addition to expanding the study, AHA encouraged the agency to translate the findings “into meaningful reforms to the DTC advertising guidelines.”