The American Medical Association has called for a ban on prescription advertising that targets consumers.
The Monroe County Medical Society does not have an official stance on the issue, but Executive Director Nancy Adams understands the AMA’s position.
The national organization believes the advertising has a role in driving up the cost of medication. “Driving patients to specific medicines isn’t helping us keep medications affordable,” says Adams.
According to the AMA, the pharmaceutical industry spent $4.5 billion in prescription advertising, and that pushes consumers to certain costly brand names. Adams says patients could often get a more affordable and sometimes better option, and doctors don’t think direct to consumer advertising always provides patients with enough information.
Citing a recent doctor survey, she says, “The physicians responded that 78 percent of the time they think they did a great job of explaining the benefits, but only 40 percent of the time actually talking about the risks in a meaningful way.”
The Monroe County Medical Society has been around since 1821. Adams says there’s a history of hearing from doctors on this issue. “I actually have minutes from the late 1800s where physicians were lamenting and concerned about people who were coming into town and were trying to sell their various elixirs to their patients,” says Adams.
Direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising is only legal in the United States and New Zealand.