By Clay Bennett
Choose Your Own Adventure!
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Which path best describes your situation.......?!
Which path best describes your situation.......?!
Promotional Spending for Prescription Drugs
Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office released a brief highlighting trends in promotional spending for prescription drugs and market characteristics that influence promotional strategies.
The way that pharmaceutical manufacturers promote prescription drugs has changed significantly in the past decade. Up until the late 1990s, pharmaceutical manufacturers confined their marketing efforts largely to just doctors and other health care providers.
In the late 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration changed its advertising guidelines and drugmakers then began marketing directly to consumers—a practice known as direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising.
Since then, the manufacturers of many prescription drugs have increased their purchases of air time on television and of advertising space in newspapers and magazines.
This year, drug companies are no longer allowed to give out pens, notepads, refrigerator magnets (just kidding about the magnets...kinda...), or any other kind of product that promotes their drug.
Many studies prove that that kind of "subliminal advertising" actually does persuade doctors to prescribe more of that particular drug, but I still say I wouldn't feel "guilted into" prescribing a drug just because I was given a free ink pen with that drug's name on it.
So basically I've waited all these years to be a doctor and get free pens, and now they've outlawed it!
The way that pharmaceutical manufacturers promote prescription drugs has changed significantly in the past decade. Up until the late 1990s, pharmaceutical manufacturers confined their marketing efforts largely to just doctors and other health care providers.
In the late 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration changed its advertising guidelines and drugmakers then began marketing directly to consumers—a practice known as direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising.
Since then, the manufacturers of many prescription drugs have increased their purchases of air time on television and of advertising space in newspapers and magazines.
This year, drug companies are no longer allowed to give out pens, notepads, refrigerator magnets (just kidding about the magnets...kinda...), or any other kind of product that promotes their drug.
Many studies prove that that kind of "subliminal advertising" actually does persuade doctors to prescribe more of that particular drug, but I still say I wouldn't feel "guilted into" prescribing a drug just because I was given a free ink pen with that drug's name on it.
So basically I've waited all these years to be a doctor and get free pens, and now they've outlawed it!
