The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received
approval from President Obama to conduct a two-year, $365,000 survey of
America’s medical professionals to determine the influence of pharmaceutical
marketing. Physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants will be
surveyed on their opinions about how drugs are marketed to consumers and
healthcare providers. The survey appears
to be especially focused on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising and
potentially social media.
Three Thoughts on the FDA Survey:
1. If
the FDA wants to understand the positive/negative influence
of direct-to-consumer ads shouldn’t they also survey some consumers? A patient who was motivated to visit their
doctor about a previously untreated and potentially dangerous disease might
offer a different perspective than his physician, who may have been annoyed
that the patient requested or asked about a specific drug for his untreated
disease. In other words, will the doctor
necessarily answer the survey in a way that sheds light on the real value of a
DTC ad?
2. Billions
are spent each year in the U.S. on pharmaceutical marketing initiatives and the
FDA is likely seeking to determine if these marketing programs are a negative
influence on prescribing habits. With
voluntary PhRMA codes, the Sunshine Act, and other state and federal
legislation, it has become much more challenging and expensive in recent years
for pharmaceutical companies to market their products. Will the FDA’s new survey lead to more
regulations for pharmaceutical marketers?
3. As
government agencies seek to regulate pharmaceutical marketers it is important
that they not blindly discount the value that pharmaceutical marketing brings
in terms of disease awareness to physicians and patients, and education about
medications that are used every day. Certainly,
there have been some abuses by pharmaceutical marketers, but these represent a
tiny minority of pharmaceutical sales and marketing initiatives. However, physicians are very busy and a short
visit with a pharmaceutical sales representative or a teledetailing call can
provide life-saving reminders about drug side effects and drug-to-drug interactions;
And DTC drug ads can help undiagnosed or untreated patients to visit their
doctor. Does anybody believe the FDA
survey will capture the benefits of pharmaceutical marketing, especially if
healthcare providers are the only subjects interviewed?
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