Abstract
Studies carried out in the 1970s and 1980s showed that there were country-dependent disparities in the information given for the same drug in medical advertisements. National and international regulations have been published to do away with such disparities and to foster the rational use of drugs. The purpose of this study was to compare the information contained in psychoactive drug advertisements published in psychiatric journals in Brazil, the United States and the United Kingdom, before and subsequent to the publication of the United States Export Act, in 1986, the WHO criteria, in 1988, and the Brazilian Sanitary Surveillance Agency Resolution no. 102, in 2000. TYPE OF STUDY AND SETTING: Content analysis, at Centro Brasileiro de Informações sobre Drogas Psicotrópicas (Cebrid). We gathered advertisements from Brazilian, American and British psychiatry periodicals published before and after each ruling. We analyzed a total of twenty-four Brazilian advertisements that were for the same psychoactive drugs as advertised in American and/or British publications from the same period. We observed that Brazilian advertisements omitted information on usage restrictions, such as contraindications, adverse reactions, interactions, warnings and precautions, and that such information was present in American and British advertisements. The data suggest that disparities in the information given for the same drug still persist. The information depends on the country in which each drug is marketed. The legislation is insufficient for eradicating such disparities.
Highlights
Non-ethical drug advertising is a severe problem in most of the world, but mainly in developing countries, and can result in irrational use of medication, over-prescribing, self-medication and abuse.[1,2] The main purpose of drug advertising regulations is to improve healthcare through the rational use of medications,[3] so as to ensure that, in using the information contained in advertisements, doctors will not produce a negative outcome for their patients
We observed that Brazilian advertisements omitted information on usage restrictions, such as contraindications, adverse reactions, interactions, warnings and precautions, and that such information was present in American and British advertisements
The selection criterion adopted for the Brazilian advertisements was that they should relate to the same drugs as advertised in publications from the United States and United Kingdom
Summary
Non-ethical drug advertising is a severe problem in most of the world, but mainly in developing countries, and can result in irrational use of medication, over-prescribing, self-medication and abuse.[1,2] The main purpose of drug advertising regulations is to improve healthcare through the rational use of medications,[3] so as to ensure that, in using the information contained in advertisements, doctors will not produce a negative outcome for their patients With this in mind, in 1986, the United States Congress enacted the Export Act,[4] through which United States multinationals were ordered to include abroad the same information as enforced domestically through approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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