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FDA Releases Preliminary Results of Physician Survey on
Direct-to-Consumer Rx Drug Advertisements

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is releasing results of its survey of 500 physicians about direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising for prescription drugs. The results confirm that DTC advertising, when done correctly, can serve positive public health functions such as increasing patient awareness of diseases that can be treated, and prompting thoughtful discussions with physicians that result in needed treatments being prescribed - often, not the treatment in the DTC advertisement. This study also demonstrates that most physicians view DTC advertisements as one of many factors that affect their practice and their interactions with patients, both positively and, in some respects, negatively.

Highlights include:

• Many physicians believe that DTC can play a positive role in their interactions with their patients. For example, most agreed that, because their patients saw a DTC ad, he or she asked more thoughtful questions during the visit. Some thought that the ad made their patients more aware of possible treatments.
• Many physicians also thought that DTC ads made their patients more involved in their healthcare.
• Physicians also felt they had to provide additional information to patients beyond what patients retained from the DTC advertising. About 75 percent of physicians believed that DTC causes patients to think the drug works better than it did, and many physicians felt some pressure to prescribe something when patients mentioned DTC ads.
• However, 8 percent felt very pressured to prescribe the specific brand name drug when asked about it. Instead, physicians suggested alternative courses of action for a variety of reasons: a different drug was more appropriate, there were side effects the patient did not know about, or a less expensive drug was available.
• According to the survey, one effect of DTC ads was to help educate patients about their health problems, and to provide greater awareness of treatments. The study demonstrated that when a patient asked about a drug, 88 percent of the time they had the condition that the drug treated. And 80 percent of physicians believed patients understood what condition the drug treats.
• Moreover, doctors believe that patients understand they need to consult a health care professional about appropriate treatment: 82 percent of physicians believe patients understand very well or somewhat that only a doctor can decide if the drug is right for the patient. This is important, because only 40 percent of physicians believe that patients understood very well or somewhat well the possible risks and negative effects of an advertised drug from the DTC ad alone.

These new results confirm FDA’s current understanding about DTC advertising. Ads can and do help increase patient awareness about the availability of effective treatments for their health problems. But FDA’s DTC policies must help prevent potential misperceptions about benefits and risks of the advertised treatment, and any actual prescribing decision should be based careful consultation between a patient and his or her health professional, to make sure that all relevant information is considered for the patient’s case.

FDA will continue to scrutinize DTC ads closely to ensure that all essential information is communicated as clearly as possible, as outlined in our current policy. In addition, FDA will continue its comprehensive evaluation of DTC advertising and its impact on public health and FDA’s policies and guidance.

This is the third survey conducted by FDA to help the agency assess the impact of DTC advertising. FDA will continue to analyze these data, and will continue its comprehensive evaluation of DTC advertising and its impact on public health, to ensure that current DTC policies maximize the positive benefit that DTC advertising can play in the public health arena.

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Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs: Physician Survey (PowerPoint presentation)

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