Direct-to-consumer advertising

Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTC advertising) usually refers to the marketing of pharmaceutical products but also applies to the direct marketing of medical devices, consumer diagnostics and sometimes financial services. This form of advertising is directed toward patients, rather than healthcare professionals. The rhetorical objective of direct-to-consumer advertising is to directly influence the patient-physician dialogue in order to increase sales of a particular pharmaceutical drug.

The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for regulating DTC advertising in the United States. The FDA's latest version of guidelines, though still in draft form, for pharmaceutical drug advertising was updated in 2009. Forms of DTC advertising include TV, print, radio and other mass and social media. There are ethical and regulatory concerns regarding DTC advertising, specifically the extent to which these ads may unduly influence the prescribing of the prescription medicines based on consumer demands when, in some cases, they may not be medically necessary.

To date four nations permit DTC in the pharmaceutical industry:

Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) laws and regulations in the United States have gradually become more relaxed since they were first introduced in the 1960s.  Consequently, expenditures on advertisements for prescription drugs in the United States have grown to approximately $.4.5 billion per year.

In 1962 Congress gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate prescription drug labeling and advertising, but the FDA did not establish implementing regulations until 1969. Pharmaceutical companies shifted the focus of their marketing efforts to licensed medical doctors in the 1970s, as the FDA mandated that only doctors could prescribe medicine.

After a series of Patient Rights campaigns in the 1970s persuaded a large segment of the population to be actively involved in their own medical care, the drug company Pfizer launched the first pharmaceutical direct-to-consumer campaign in 1980, promoting its brand but not marketing any prescription medication.  In 1981, Boots aired the first targeted drug advertisement for the drug Rufen, promoting the pain killer as a cheaper alternative to leading brands. Soon after Merck launched a campaign promoting its pneumonia vaccine.

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