Majority of U.S. Adults Think it is a Good Idea to Forbid Direct-to-Consumer Advertising for New Prescription Drugs When They First Come to Market (press release)

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: direct-to-consumer advertising, health news, Natural News

https://www.naturalnews.com/009975.html

Tweet

---

Support for such requirements may be driven in part by public concerns about the FDA's ability to appropriately oversee prescription drug advertising to consumers. Majorities of adults believe the FDA is doing only a fair or poor job of ensuring that direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs provides complete and accurate information about the risks and benefits of the medication (61%) and of deciding which prescription drugs can and cannot be advertised directly to consumers (69%).

These are some of the results of a Harris Interactive(R) online survey of 2,207 U.S. adults conducted between July 6 and 8, 2005 for The Wall Street Journal Online's Health Industry Edition.

Support for mandatory vs. voluntary limitations

More adults say they would favor a mandatory rather than a voluntary ban on direct-to-consumer advertising for new prescription drugs. Specifically:

• More than one-third (35%) would favor a mandatory ban on direct-to- consumer advertising for all new prescription drugs approved by the FDA for some limited period of time.

• Sixteen percent (16%) would favor a voluntary ban on direct-to-consumer advertising for new prescription drugs approved by the FDA so that each pharmaceutical company could decide when to begin advertising to consumers.