Direct To Consumer Advertising Should Be Banned Essay

1346 Words3 Pages

DIRECT TO CONSUMER ADVERTISING (DCTA) IN THE HEALTH CARE FIELD
Thomas E Wallace III
Pharm.D. Candidate Class of 2020, School of Pharmacy, University of Saint Joseph, Hartford, CT, USA, 060103.

ABSTRACT

In 2017, many people are regularly getting their health information from one or more forms of technology: television, the internet, or social media. While direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs is legal in the United States, with some research pointing to improved provider/patient relationships, many in the healthcare fields think it should be banned. Those against DTCA argue that it leads to misinformed/confused patients who request prescriptions drugs from their provider that they may not need. Should prescription drugs be advertised directly to consumers, or should advertising information be kept strictly to licensed healthcare providers?

Abbreviations:DCTA, Direct to Consumer Advertising

1.1 INTRODUCTION …show more content…

Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medications is one of the legal forms in the United States. With the research pointing to improved provider/patient relationships, many healthcare fields believe it should be banned. An argument against DTCA of prescription medications is that it leads patients to be misinformed or confused, resulting in requests of prescription drugs from their providers that aren’t needed. The ongoing argument that DTC pharma advertising leads consumers to request medication for conditions they do not have, or conditions that do not exist, may have some truth to it5. Regardless of the debate at hand, direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) has grown rapidly during the past several decades and is now the most prominent type of health communication that the public

Open Document