Does DTC Heart Drug Advertising Discourage Lifestyle Changes?
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A 5-minute bout of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for prescription heart drugs was associated with favorable perceptions of both medication use and pharmaceutical companies, but did not seem to negate intentions to use lifestyle interventions, a survey study shows. Participants who watched ads for various prescription heart drugs, with or without price disclosure, were more likely to report positive perceptions of drug companies and intentions to take actions such as switching medications.
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@plaban DTCA of prescription drugs can contribute to rising drug costs due to overprescribing of both inappropriate and brand-name drugs over cheaper generic alternatives. While we do not examine this mechanism in our paper, this remains an important question for future research