Drug company advertising (2000-2006)

“ . . . the economic advertisements from 2000-2006 refer more to direct cost (i.e., ‘costs less,’ ‘price,’ ‘affordable/affordability’) . . . than to indirect costs (‘back-to-work’) and cost-effectiveness (‘value’). . . . Third, the overall use of substantiating information has not increased with time. . . . Our findings suggest the possible influence of external policies on promotional activities for drugs. In particular, the FDAMA Section 114 legislation in 1997 may have contributed to the decrease in economic advertisements in general medical journals post-1997. Section 114 may have precipitated a shift in drug company’s targeted audience from individual physicians making prescribing decisions at the patient level to formulary committees making coverage decisions at the health plan level (Palmer, Timm & Neumann, 2008). . . . The uncertain nature of much of the substantiating information that comes with less transparent practices, however, tempers these advantages. . . . the field is scattered with examples of biased, unsubstantiated, unavailable, and misleading clinical claims” (753).