The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: News

MACIAS

Prescription drug ads on television don't present a fair balance of information about the benefits and risks of drugs, according to a University study.

Wendy Macias, associate professor of advertising and public relations, led a study examining a week of direct-to-consumer advertisements.

Macias, along with Kartik Pashupati of Southern Methodist University and Liza Lewis from the University of Texas at Austin, found that on average, a 60-second ad devoted less than eight seconds to side effects.

Thirty-second ads contained less than 4.4 seconds of risk disclaimers and 15-second ads usually did not offer disclaimers.

Guidelines set by the Federal Drug Administration in 1997 allow companies to advertise directly to consumers if they accurately present information on benefits and risks.

A fair balance of facts is not always clearly identified, the researchers concluded. The results, published in the November/December issue of Health Communication, offer a way to classify appropriate use of television ad time.

The classification is a four-tiered system. The first tier of ads is considered illegal for omitting information on side effects. A second level includes ads that devote less than 10 percent of time describing medical risks.

Most ads belong in the third tier, researchers decided. These ads spend 10 percent of time discussing risk information.

In the fourth tier, equal amounts of time are given to the benefits and side effects of the product.

The first tier contained two percent of the ads studied and would be considered illegal.

Ten percent belonged to the second tier, presenting a minimal amount of risk disclaimers.

The third level included 88 percent of ads and did not attempt to go beyond what the FDA asks.

A recent advertisement for the Ortho Evra birth-control patch used a new format that presented a more effective communication of benefits and risks and could be a sign of a new trend in the industry toward self regulation, the researchers said.

"Consumers need to understand direct-to-consumer television ads are not able to present all of the information you need to make a wise health care decision," Macias said.

It is important to remember that an advertisement is meant to persuade consumers to buy something - regardless of the product, Lewis said.

Consumers spend significant amounts of time researching other purchases such as cars or computers, she said.

"We live in such an information-rich society that this can be overwhelming, but you really need to gather all the facts before you can make an informed decision," Lewis said.

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