AMA TO STUDY PHARMACEUTICAL DTC ADVERTISING
The American Medical Association (AMA) has agreed to initiate a study examining the effect direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising is having on patient-physician relationships and healthcare costs.
The decision to pursue the DTC ad study was ratified by AMA delegates attending the association's annual meeting in Chicago last month.
The study, which will likely take up to a year to complete, will look at how DTC advertising affects the doctor-patient relationship, whether the advertising has any educational value, how it affects consumer decisions and cost implications of the advertising, according to an AMA representative.
A final recommendation on the position the AMA should take on drug advertising will be made at next year's annual convention, the representative said.
AMA's examination of the issue comes amid growing scrutiny of drug advertising practices from the FDA and Congress, as well as from the industry itself.
The FDA has been particularly active in DTC ad enforcement. As of June 22, the agency's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) had issued a total of 14 letters -- 6 warning letters and 8 untitled letters -- reprimanding drug companies for their advertising practices. Historically, DDMAC has issued only four or five warning letters each year, but the office picked up its enforcement pace in 2004 when it issued 23 letters, including 12 warning letters. In 2003, DDMAC issued five warning letters to drug companies.
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