Direct-to-consumer
drug ads tend to strike a dissonant chord. However, fan and foe can count on
one thing: Prescription DTC advertising is here to stay. The evidence?
Surviving more than 20 years of numerous legal, regulatory and perception
challenges on its way to becoming a $6 billion-plus annual industry.
That’s mostly
because DTC works. Study after study finds that patients follow the well-worn
DTC advice and actually “ask your doctor” about a condition or a specific
medicine after they’ve seen ads for a prescription drug on TV or online. A
DRG study found that among patients who saw digital ads for drugs,
42% requested a specific prescription from their doctors, while 22% of people
who saw TV ads did the same. Another study, by Wharton and University of
Southern California professors, estimated that for every 10% increase in
advertising exposure, there was a corresponding increase in the number of
prescriptions purchased by about 5%.