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Pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb has announced that they will suspend
direct-to-consumer advertising for their prescription drug products for a year.
This comes in the wake of the well-publicized withdrawals of Merck’s Vioxx and
Pfizer’s Bextra, two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that were
voluntarily withdrawn from the market recently. Studies showed that they
increase the likelihood of strokes and heart attacks among patients that take
them for prolonged periods of time. This represents an unusual move for a
pharmaceutical company, as they tend to spend a large portion of their annual
advertising budget on direct-to-consumer advertising.
It is possible that Bristol Myers recognizes that consumers are becoming
concerned about new drugs being approved by the FDA and advertised heavily, only
to find out later that the drugs have previously unknown and possibly dangerous
side effects. Consumers have learned that advertising a drug as “new and
improved” doesn’t necessarily mean that it is new, or improved, or even safe. In
short, customers are suspicious of pharmaceutical advertising, and the drug
companies are to be commended for taking notice of that fact.
Since 1997, drug companies have been allowed by U.S. law to advertise directly
to consumers. This has led to an astonishing number of ads on television and
radio, as consumers see ads showing one happy person after another. The ads
suggest that the happiness shown is a result of the use of the product, and a
voiceover quickly mumbles through the known, and sometimes lengthy, list of side
effects. Patients are encouraged to speak with their doctor, and they have been
doing so in record numbers. The problem, as Bristol Myers know realizes, is that
consumers are well aware that the withdrawn Bextra and Vioxx were advertised as
being safe. This has naturally led to a general suspicion of all advertised
drugs, and Bristol Myers correctly sees that they could be the victims of a
drug-company backlash, even if they didn’t manufacture any of the withdrawn
products.
This will probably save Bristol Myers a lot of money in the short term, as their
advertising would have largely gone to waste. The Food and Drug Administration
is taking steps to make sure that the drugs that reach the U.S. market are safe,
and in time, the public will again become more trusting of pharmaceutical
advertising. In the meantime, TV viewers will be spared from having to watch the
sometimes-cryptic drug ads, which often prompt questions of “What does this drug
do?”
About the Author
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro
Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including Bextra-Info.net,
a site devoted to the withdrawn drug Bextra and StructuredSettlementHelp.com, a
site devoted to structured settlements.
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