[Infowarrior] - Survey Finds Drug Ads Drive Prescribing

[Richard Forno]

http://www.prwatch.org/node/5617

Survey Finds Drug Ads Drive Prescribing

A survey of 39,090 patients and 335 primary-care physicians reveals the
power of direct-to-consumer advertising of drugs. "Seventy-eight percent of
doctors said patients asked them at least occasionally to prescribe drugs
they had seen advertised on television, and 67 percent said they sometimes
did so," Consumer Reports reveals. While a majority of patients rated their
doctors highly, approximately one-third "failed to discuss side effects of
prescribed drugs, and two-thirds never brought up costs of treatments and
tests." Of the doctors surveyed, 40% considered direct-to-consumer ads by
the drug industry were a disservice to the public. The report authors urge
consumers to "ignore drug ads."

Website: Consumer Reports, February 2006
URL: 
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/current-issue/consumer-reports/1006_toc_o
v1.htm