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Advertising drugs directly to consumers on TV or in other media might increase the rate of prescribing beyond reasonable levels new research suggests. Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTC) is the advertising of prescription medicines on television and in other media. The United States has it and occasionally there's been a push to have DTC here. But a study suggests it wouldn't be a good idea. US researchers trained actors as pseudo-patients. Some pretended they'd major depression bad enough to need medication, while others gave a story of mild depression. Some told doctors they'd seen an advertisement for a brand name antidepressant on TV; others said they'd seen a TV special on depression while others just gave their history. Those with serious depression were much more likely to receive reasonable care if they mentioned the ad or the documentary. If they'd seen the ad, they mostly received the brand name drug. Now apart from the bias towards the advertised drug, that seems to support direct-to-consumer advertising since it got doctors to do the right thing. But it wasn't so with mild depression. Saying they'd seen the TV ad significantly increased the rate of prescribing - beyond reasonable levels. Since mild problems are commoner than serious ones, it's likely that the harms from DTC outweigh the benefits.
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