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Pharmaceuticals advertising: proven to promote prescription of the newest drugs

Pharmaceuticals firms invest huge sums in advertising to persuade doctors to prescribe their new drugs. A strategy that pays off for the industry, but not for patients and public health.

French doctors are notorious for prescribing heavily (compared to German doctors, for example). Social Security figures show that drugs on the market for less than 5 years account for 25% of annual expenditure on medicines. But newer drugs, which are more expensive than older ones, are not necessarily more effective or less risky – far from it. Several studies show how very effective drugs advertising (visits from sales representatives, print advertising, etc.) is in influencing the prescription of new drugs. The number of new drugs prescribed is directly related to pharmaceuticals companies' advertising spend, and to the number of advertisements placed in medical journals. Other factors also affect the prescription of drugs. But the industry would not spend so much on advertising (2 billion euros in France in 2001) if it were not effective. This should make the French authorities think: they agree to the high prices that pharmaceuticals companies charge for new drugs, thus enabling companies to invest massively in advertising. ©Prescrire September 2005

Source: “La promotion, facteur essentiel de prescription des médicaments récents“ Rev Prescrire 2005 ; 25 (264) : 623-624.

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