The New York Times reports on a Manhattan luncheon for ad agencies and drug companies at which survey results were released suggesting consumers may be paying more attention to drug ad side effect information and less to drug benefit information (although the margin of error was such that the changes might be null).
The Times reports that Kathryn J. Aikin, the senior researcher at the Food and Drug Administration's division of drug marketing, advertising and communication, told the crowd that the FDA is "very concerned about the direction" that drug ads seem to be taking.
Not enough consumers are aware of the risk statements that are required in drug advertising, Dr. Aikin said.
From the Times: "She complained about recurring problems in direct-to-consumer advertising, like unsubstantiated comparative claims between drugs, misleading or distracting visual elements and graphics, nearly illegible text describing risks, and minimal mentions of the role of health care providers or a drug's prescription status."
Posted by schwitz at March 28, 2005 08:40 AM