Now You See It. Now You Don't: Fair Balance and Adequate Provision in Advertisements for Drugs Before and After the Switch From Prescription to Over-the-Counter

Abstract

The objective of this study was to measure differences in fair balance (benefit and risk statements) and adequate provision (toll-free numbers, Internet URLs, print ad references, and medical professional references) in advertising content for drugs that have switched from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC). The Vanderbilt TV News Archive was used to select products to study, to measure the frequency and placement of ads for those products, and to view advertising content for those products. Unique advertisements (n = 108) for loratadine (Claritin), citirizine (Zyrtec), and omeprazole (Prilosec) were analyzed for the presence of adequate provision statements and for the frequency of benefit, risk, and other statements. OTC ads were shorter than prescription ads by 10.6 seconds but contained the same total number of statements. Most prescription ads (n (RX) = 31) contained toll-free numbers (97%), Internet URLs (94%), medical professional references (100%) and print ad references (68%). Few OTC ads (n (OTC) = 77) contained adequate provision statements: 4% contained toll-free numbers and 10% contained Internet URLs. Prescription ads had similar numbers of benefits (1.5) and risks (1.8) per 30 seconds of ad time, and OTC ads had more benefits (6.6) than risks (1.2) per 30 seconds of ad time. Prescription drug ads contained risk statements that listed specific side effects and explicit harms from taking the product, but OTC ads contained nonspecific risk information and statements that implied risk rather than directly identifying risk. Differences in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulation of advertising affected the balance of risk and benefit information that appeared and the specificity of risk information available.

Characteristics of medication advertisements found in US women’s fashion magazines

“…23 Prior studies have determined that unlike DTCA, OTCA has featured more content regarding the benefits of a particular products than the risk, omitting potentially dangerous health consequences, 24 an observation confirmed in our analysis. Overall, less information is presented through OTCA than DTCA, even though the targeted consumers are the final decision makers for purchasing these medications.…”

The Effect of Inconsistency Appeals on the Influence of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertisements: An Application of Goal Disruption Theory

“…In addition to consideration of inconsistency appeals, scholars have speculated that the way in which side effects information is presented might affect viewers' perceptions of DTC ads (e.g., Hoek, Gendall, Rapson, & Louviere, 2011;Royne & Myers, 2008). However, research examining these ordering effects is sparse (e.g., Faerber & Kreling, 2012;Schwartz, Woloshin, & Welch, 2009). To begin addressing this gap in the literature, we built on the findings of Aikin and colleagues (2011) to explore the potential moderating effect that side effects presentation may have on viewers' perception of inconsistency-arousing ads.…”

Changes in Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising Following Shifts From Prescription-Only to Over-the-Counter Status

“…Our results support and extend initial reports on the practical outcomes of the shift in regulatory oversight in drug promotion from the FDA to the FTC that accompany OTC shift. 4 In addition to less presentation of potential harms, DTCA for OTC medications frequently omitted identification of drugs by their generic names, both of which are key tools for consumers seeking independent information on risks, benefits, and costs. 5 These 4 products may not be representative of all prescription drugs, OTC drugs, or drugs undergoing OTC shift.…”