Prescription Drug Marketing & Advertising

Written by Frank Baker  ©2004

Pharma Online Spending to Hit One Billion
FDA Deputizes Doctors to Police 'Bad' Rx Drug Ads
FDA urges docs to report misleading drug ads
Big Phama pushes into social media
Ten Misleading Drug Ads
Professors Assert That Benefits of DTC Drug Ads Outweigh Criticisms
Physicians Say No to DTC Ads for Meds that Treat Mental Disorders
Feds prod drugmakers to cut distractions in ads
Drug ads take more serious tone
Less Sex, Rock-n-Roll as Drugmakers React to FDA TV Ad Scrutiny
Side Effects Include Denial

2009
Drug industry presses FDA to allow more online ads
Bayer sued over cancer ad claims
Pfizer to pay record $2.3B penalty for drug promos
US warns of TV drug ads' distracting music, images
14 Drug Makers Told to Stop Using Some Internet Ads
User-friendly drug-facts boxes put to the test
Effectiveness of Drug Ads Questioned by Study

2008
Drug Makers, Facing Critics, Will Stop Some Ads
Pfizer resuming ads for Lipitor after controversy
Drug Ads: Big Waste Of Money?
Expensive ads sell few prescription drugs: study
Pharma Oversold?
Drug Ads Losing Recall Effectiveness Among Consumers
Pushing Prescriptions: Center for Public Integrity Study
Congress Reconsiders Curbs on DTC Ads
Merck agrees to pre-approval of TV ads in Vioxx settlement
Do Consumers Understand Drug Ads? (TIME magazine)
Opposing view: Ads benefit patients
Our view on pharma ads: Can you believe what you see on TV? Ask your doctor
TV drug ads may have to zoom in on side effects  
The Truth Behind Drug Ads
Drug companies defend TV ads critics call misleading
Analyzing the side effects of drug ads
As drug ads surge, more get Rx's filled
Drug Pitchmen: Actor, Doctor or Pfizer’s Option
Pfizer Yanks Lipitor Ad featuring Jarvik
TV ads oversell drugs, skimp on risks
Prescription drug ads shouldn't target consumers
Schering, Merck halt TV ads for two drugs
Drug Makers Yank Vytorin TV Ads
More reason to curb drug ads
Drug Ads Raise Legislators' Blood Pressure
Study finds most TV prescription drug ads minimize risk information (PR)

2007

FDA to study images' impact in drug ads
Los Angeles Times Series Examines Pharmaceutical Industry
Drug Ads After a Decade: Are Direct to Consumer Messages Still a Good Idea?
Ads for new drugs spark fight
Senate Moves Closer to Giving FDA Power to Ban Drug Ads
Bill could block some ads for new drugs
Whatever's wrong, there's a drug for you, or so TV ads say
Celebrex Commercial, Long and Unconventional, Draws Criticism
TV drug ads lull a tired nation to buy
Don't be taken by drug ads (Consumer Reports)
Rozerem Ads Violated Rules, FDA Says
Drug Gets a Cameo in a Film Backed by Its Maker
Pharmaceutical Patient Education Shifts Emphasis From Ads
Drug Ads May Skew Health Care in Unhealthy Ways
Whatever's wrong, there's a drug for you, or so TV ads say
Direct-to-consumer drug ads rarely mention condition risks
The Truth about the Drug Ads
Pharma Advertisers Decry Misleading Study
Study: TV Ads Overstate Benefits of Medication (NPR)
DTC ads play on (patients) emotions
Showdown Looms in Congress Over Drug Advertising on TV
Rx for drug ads

2006-2001

FDA Could Require New Fees for DTC Ad Approval
FDA needs to watch drugs ads more closely: report
AMA asks for restrictions on drug ads
A Nation of Pill Takers
Ten Years Later: Direct to Consumer Drug Advertising
Effect of direct-to-consumer drug ads unexpected
Drug ads sell a problem, not a solution
Ads Drove Rise In Sleeping Pill Use
AMA launches war on drug ads
Drug Maker Calls for Limiting Risk Information in Drug Ads
AMA Calls for Temporary Ban on DTC Drug Ads
AMA Gives Up Push to Ban DTC Drug Ads
AMA mulls backing limits on TV drug ads
Groups Call for Outlawing Of Prescription Drug Ads
Researchers Call for Ban on Pharma Ads in Medical Journals
New pharma ad rules result in...more ads
An industry in flux
‘Lifestyle’ drugs touted on TV send many rushing to doctors
Marketing Group Wants To Loosen Drug Advertising
Drug ads take on more serious tone
A New Style of Drug Ads Puts Side Effects Up Front
Drug ads come under govnt scrutiny
Commercial Alert launches anti drug ads website
Ads for erectile drug Levitra less racy now
Big Drug Makers See Sales Drop with image
Study says public misled by depression drug ads
Rise of celebrity testimonials spurs FDA scrutiny
Generation RX: How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, 
Minds and Bodies
US FDA steps up action on misleading drug ads
Drug makers set curbs on TV ads
Drug Industry Adopts New Ad Guidelines
With advertising under siege, drug makers rethink their marketing ...
Drug industry proposes limits on advertising
Consumer advocates skeptical of drug-ad guidelines
Drug companies spend billions to market directly to consumers
Celebs flock to drug ads
Senate leader seeks drug ad moratorium
AMA Passes New Policy on Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertising 
Drug Ads: pro and con
A Self-Imposed Ban on Drug Ads
A Drug Maker's Ads, Hold the Disclaimer
Ads transform drug industry, and our lives
Medication Nation
Makers of drugs slow TV spending
Drug Industry Takes Its Pulse
Some drug makers are curtailing TV ad spending
Drug makers working on US advertising guidelines
Regulator slaps Pfizer on Zoloft ads
How Marketing Drives the Pharmaceutical Industry
Study: Drug ads drive consumer demand; LA Times story
FDA ORDERS LEVITRA AND ZYRTEC ADS PULLED
FDA Sends Pfizer Warning Letter Over Zyrtec Ads
Consumers Are Looking Past Commercials to Study Prescription Drugs
FDA ORDERS ASTRAZENECA CRESTOR ADS PULLED
FDA To Get Tougher On Consumer Drug Ads
DTC Spend Soars, as Consumers Find Ads Increasingly Believable and Likeable, According to New NOP World Health Research
US: J&J Arthritis Drug Ads Misleading
PLUGGED INTO prescription drugs
Study: drug ads led to unnecessary purchases
Drugmakers hit by claims of ‘misleading' ads
Celebrex Ads were misleading, says FDA
An Overdose of Ads
What do you believe when drug messages conflict?
Drug risks raise doubt about ads
FDA Reprimands AstraZeneca for Crestor Ad
Madison Ave. Sharing Drug Makers' Pain
Pfizer to pull Celebrex ads
Gender bias found in drug ads
Crestor ads draw fire; FDA could act
With or Without Vioxx, Drug Ads Proliferate
TV ads key front in drug price war
JAMA agrees that drug-monitoring system often fails
The selling of Cialis
The fake heaven of claritin
Conflicting Ads Drive Arthritis-Drug Users into Doctors' Offices for Advice
Drug Ads -- Without Harmful Side Effects
FDA says Abbott HIV drug ads misleading
Marketing, medicine (10/17)
Billions of dollars spent on drug ads (10/12) 
Truth in Advertising: Rx Drug Ads Come of Age  
Women over-represented in psychiatric-drug ads, study says (7/6)
Edwards Proposes Curbs on Drug Ads (5/19)
FTC Calls for Drug Ad Research (5/12)
Drug ads prone to lead patients astray (study) 5/4
Physicians Have Mixed Opinions about consumer targeted ads (4/26)
Viagra and the Battle of Awkward Ads (4/25)
Costly Dose of Drug Ads (4/11)
My Drug Study Sounds Catchier Than Yours (3/7)
Pop That Pill
FDA  Proposes Overhaul of DTC Drug Ads (2/5)
Healthy Skepticism AdWatch Illuminating techniques used in drug ads
Trying to Police Misleading Drug Ads (NYT, 1/30)
FDA:Prescription drug print ads need to be simplified/Review Process Could Take Months(1/28)
FDA Struggles to Police Drug Print Ads (1/28) 
Why We Pay So Much For Drugs (Time, Jan. 2004)
FTC Suggests FDA Soften DTC Drug Ad Regulations (12/2)
FDA Reviews Ads for Drugs (NYT)
FDA Kicks off DTC Drug Ad Hearing (Sept.2003, Adage.com)
Those Omnipresent Prescription Drug Ads.
(things to watch for when evaluating medication advertising)
Prescriptions Pitched to the Public: Are Direct-to-Consumer 
Pharmaceutical Advertisements Confusing to Patients? (August 2001)
Is TV Advertising Of Prescription Medicine 
Hooking Americans On Expensive And Unneeded Drugs? 
(Mother Jones magazine, April 2001)