One of the grey areas that the FDA regulates, but not with the same degree of stringency as it does many pharmaceutical and healthcare products is Direct to Consumer (DTC) marketing. As the name suggests, Direct to Consumer or Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising (DTCPA) is a form of marketing in which pharmaceutical companies advertise to its consumers directly over the media such as television and radio. It has gained such prominence and popularity that it is considered the most prevalent form of communication from the medical profession to patients in the US today.

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2. • One of the grey areas that the FDA regulates, but not
with the same degree of stringency as it does many
pharmaceutical and healthcare products is Direct to
Consumer (DTC) marketing. As the name suggests,
Direct to Consumer or Direct to Consumer
Pharmaceutical Advertising (DTCPA) is a form of
marketing in which pharmaceutical companies
advertise to its consumers directly over the media such
as television and radio. It has gained such prominence
and popularity that it is considered the most prevalent
form of communication from the medical profession to
patients in the US today.
• The US is considered the only country, other from New
Zealand, to allow pharmaceutical companies to use
DTCPA to make claims on the product. The contrast in
the situations in these two countries cannot be more
glaring, since New Zealand has less than 1.5 percent
of the population in the US! In the US, DTCPA is a
huge medium, since it is the world’s leading market for
healthcare and is also a very consumerist and beauty
and health conscious society.
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3. • Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical
Advertising is both strongly
defended, if not glorified or revered,
and reviled for what it does to the
consumer, the pharmaceutical
company, and the healthcare sector
as a whole.
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4. • One of the main arguments in factor of DTCPA is that
American society is highly educated and can easily discern
whatever information is fed to them. In such a knowledge-
driven, knowledge-oriented nation as the US, it is an
anachronism of sorts if all channels of information and
marketing are open, but only that of pharmaceuticals and
healthcare is not.
• Proponents of the concept of DTCPA argue that just as
advertising for most other products do not automatically
result in purchases, the same goes for Direct to Consumer
Pharmaceutical Advertising. Only because these wares are
being advertised doesn’t mean that people will automatically
buy them and start using them blindly without examining the
side effects, efficacy and a whole host of attributes that they
would if the products were advertised through other
mediums.
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5. • For pharmaceuticals, Direct to Consumer
Pharmaceutical Advertising is a very strong tool for
giving their products a fillip, because in economies
such as the US, in which there is a high level of
consumer awareness, the endorsement of a brand by
a practitioner or a popular character will have the
effect of spurring them to ask for the product either
with their own physician or practitioner or at the retail
outlet at which they buy their pharmaceutical
products. In this way, both the practice’s and the
retailer’s business goes up.
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6. • Another point that opponents of the idea of DTCPA put
forth is that by resorting to this medium, pharmaceutical
companies may be lining their pockets, but mainly at
the expense of the consumer. DTCPA is a contributor
to the American economy since it boosts the level of
prescriptions and triggers sales of products, but the big
question is what kind of products are bought on
account of DTCPA.
• Are these the products that the
consumers need? By motivating the
consumer to buy mostly unnecessary
products, this advertising medium
makes an already consumerist
economy spend even more on
products that are mostly unwanted
and serve nothing more than just
cosmetic purposes.www.netzealous.com

7. • This means that the American healthcare sector is bloating
more with the use of such products, making the hardworking
taxpayer pay for this massive sector, rather than increase
awareness of the products nationally. This defeats the purpose
of healthcare, which should be about improving the quality of
life, instead of splurging on peripheral needs.
• A very important point that those who oppose DTCPA offer is
that there is almost no way by which the claims made by these
ads can be verified. In a popular episode, a medical practitioner
was attributed as being the author of a breakthrough study on
the ill effects of cholesterol. The call for using a cholesterol
lowering drug made by this practitioner had a big effect on the
sale of the drug across the US. It later turned out that not only
was the report wrongly attributed to the said practitioner; he
was not even an authorized practitioner.
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8. • Opponents of DTCPA have another couple of strong
points to denounce this practice. They think that these
ads promote the use of non-label or over-the-counter
drugs, whose efficacy is always debatable. They also
believe that this medium reduces pharmaceutical
products to the level of any other consumer item with
largely misleading information about products that are
not absolutely necessary, often promoted by
celebrities who have no clue about the real value of
the product.
• The FDA is seen as being lax when it should be a lot
more proactive in this area. This regulatory authority,
on its part, says that it is on vigil, carrying out periodic
surveys with consumers to gauge the effect of these
ads on their buying patterns and of course, health.
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9. • Professional trainings from NetZealous LLC, a Fremont, CA-
based provider of professional trainings can help clear the
air about the uses or otherwise of Direct to Consumer
Pharmaceutical Advertising and all other related topics.
NetZealous LLC offers professional trainings in the areas of
regulatory compliance, human resources, healthcare and IT
through highly rated and well known experts in these fields.
NetZealous LLC’s flexible, interactive and easy to
understand trainings help professionals gain clarity over any
area on which they may have doubts.
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