SURVEY: MOST PHYSICIANS SUPPORT AD MORATORIUM FOR NEW DRUGS

More than 80 percent of physicians believe a moratorium should be placed on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising immediately following the approval of a new drug, according to a survey conducted by HRA Research.

Of the 2,015 doctors participating in the Internet survey, 81 percent responded that DTC advertising should be prohibited for new prescription drugs for a period of time after FDA approval to allow physicians to familiarize themselves with new products. The survey included both office — and hospital-based physicians from virtually all practice areas.

While the large majority of physicians favored some type of moratorium on DTC ads, there was less agreement about the type of ban that should be implemented. Forty-three percent of survey participants favored a mandatory ban for some limited period of time, 33 percent recommended a voluntary ban with each pharmaceutical company deciding when to begin advertising to consumers, and 24 percent said it is not necessary to place either type of ban on DTC advertising.

Doctors' support for a DTC ad moratorium may be driven in part by their concerns about the drug industry's promotional activities, said HRA, a Parsippany, N.J.-based healthcare market research firm.

DTC advertising in the pharmaceutical industry has become a hot-button topic among numerous stakeholders, including federal lawmakers, consumer advocacy groups and the drug industry itself.

Two House lawmakers recently introduced a bipartisan bill calling for the establishment of a three-year moratorium on DTC activities immediately following FDA approval of a new drug. Sponsored by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), the Responsibility in Drug Advertising Act of 2005 would also impose civil penalties on companies that fail to meet DTC rules and provide the FDA with the authority to require that corrective materials be distributed if a company violate the advertising moratorium.

Early this summer, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) called on the drug industry to adopt a two-year moratorium on advertising following the approval of a new drug.