Dangerous Drugs Advertised By Manufacturers

Our dangerous drug attorneys often review cases in which an inappropriate drug was prescribed for a patient. Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971 to represent consumers’ interest in Congress, the executive branch and the courts. In the latest newsletter from The Health Research Group, a division of Public Citizen, there is an interesting article concerning direct advertising by pharmaceutical companies.
The article points out that other than New Zealand, the United States is the only country that allows direct to consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies.
According to Public Citizen, the drug companies have become masters at targeting patients and spurring prescriptions through these ads. Most of the time, the ads encourage patients to use newer medications, exposing them to drugs with weaker safety records, and driving up the cost of health care. The ads have also been shown to omit important safety information, while attempting to transform patients into agents of the drug companies pressuring physicians for drugs they see celebrated between television shows.
Many physicians complain that the direct to consumer advertising makes their job much more difficult since some patients insist on having particular drugs prescribed that are not necessarily in the patients best interest.