To have or not to have? Ethics and regulation of direct to consumer advertising of prescription medicines

Abstract

Only two countries, the USA and New Zealand, allow direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medicines. In this paper the evolution of DTCA is reviewed and the arguments surrounding it examined. The paper concludes that many of the criticisms levelled at DTCA have no empirical foundation and that opposition to DTCA wanes rapidly once it has become established. Overall, the benefits arising from DTCA outweigh the posited but largely unproven disadvantages thought to be associated with it. The regulatory approaches taken to DTCA are also evaluated and the Food and Drug Administration's implemented system is compared with the New Zealand self-regulatory operation. The paper suggests that a self-regulatory approach, complemented by parallel government monitoring, provides an efficient and responsive system that promotes responsible and ethical advertising.Countries currently reviewing DTCA would do well to examine and learn from the experiences of the New Zealand advertising industry.