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The Power Of Prescription Drug Advertising

Posting Date: 12/27/2004

When visitors from another country turn on the TV in the U.S., they are often shocked to see commercials for prescription drugs. The only other place in the world where this is permitted is New Zealand, and efforts are underway to prohibit the practice there.

Since the FDA opened the floodgates several years ago, prescription drug ads have proliferated. It?s hard to watch the evening news without seeing a commercial for drugs to lower cholesterol or relieve arthritis pain.

Heavy TV advertising helped make Vioxx so successful. Hundreds of millions were spent suggesting that this arthritis drug could make life more enjoyable.

In early commercials, Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill was featured gliding over the ice in a picture-perfect mountain setting. The message: "Ask your doctor about Vioxx, a prescription medicine from Merck. And find out if Vioxx is right for you."

With 20/20 hindsight, experts are complaining that the direct-to-consumer advertising for Vioxx created unjustified enthusiasm. People badgered their doctors for a prescription for the drug instead of relying on over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, etc) or naproxen (Aleve). It turns out these inexpensive products may have been about as effective as Vioxx and a lot safer.

Since prescription drug commercials must include information on side effects, it?s surprising they work so well. In most ads, an authoritative voice describes a litany of side effects. While you watch people having a wonderful time, you hear about potentially serious reactions like headache, blurred vision, kidney failure, heart attack, liver disease and pneumonia. Why would anyone beg a doctor for something that can cause so much misery?

The reason appears to be that people disregard the warnings. The time devoted to side effects in TV commercials can be measured in a few seconds. In addition, commercials often diminish the seriousness of such warnings with exciting, uplifting images that distract the TV viewer from the voice-over describing disease and death. An appealing visual image trumps scary words every time.