More drug ads may mean more prescriptions filled

I read a recent article by Julie Appleby in USA Today discussing whether the increase in drug advertising benefits patients or costs the country more money in health care spending.

According to the article, drug companies spent about $4.8 billion on advertising in 2006, almost double what they spent in 2002. The article stated that ads for prescription drugs prompt more people to ask their doctors about those drugs and that 82% of those who ask get some prescription, whether it is for the drug they asked about or a different drug. This is an increase from 1997, when 75% of patients received a prescription after asking about an ad. The findings come from a national survey conducted in January jointly by USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. Here are some interesting factoids from the article.

• Of the 1,695 people surveyed, 32% asked their doctors about a particular drug ad.
• Of that 32%, their doctors recommended one or more of the following: making behavior modifications (57%), a different prescription (54%, a prescription for the drug asked about (44%), or an over-the-counter drug (32%).
• 29% of people surveyed said that drug costs have caused them not to fill a prescription at least once in the last two years
• 23% have cut or skipped doses to make medications last longer.

So I began to think about the drug advertising and whether it's beneficial to us or whether it's as unnecessary or costly to patients as some say it is. I personally think the ads are often annoying, but I also think the same thing about car and beer ads.

It makes me think about the rheumatoid arthritis drugs. I've seen plenty of ads over the years for Enbrel, Remicade and Humira. But asking about that drug may prompt a discussion about other available rheumatoid arthritis treatments. For example, there are older NSAIDs and DMARDs, like placquenil and methotrexate that are now in generic form or have been around so many years that they are never advertised. So a patient wouldn't necessarily know about them unless they had done research on all available drug options prior to the doc appt. And most patients, including me, aren't going to be able to make a decision on what they should take without the doctor's advice. There are too many drugs and they affect everyone differently.

So I don't find it surprising that 32% of patients ask their doctors about drugs ads they see (that percentage actually seems low to me) or that 82% of the people who ask get a prescription. It sounds logical, since I assume that most people don't go to the doctor or ask about medication unless they are sick or current medications aren't working properly. And I think it says a lot that more people were either prescribed a different drug or were told to modify their behavior than were prescribed the drug asked about. To me, the survey just shows that people want information and they are comfortable with talking to their doctors about their treatment options. That's a good thing.