Direct-to-Consumer Advertising — Strengthening Our Health Care System

Abstract

It has been almost five years since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidelines clarifying the agency's broadcast requirements for the advertising of specific pharmaceutical agents directly to consumers on television.¹ Previously, most direct-to-consumer advertising had been confined to newspapers and magazines. We think this expansion to television has been a positive step.Does direct-to-consumer advertising strengthen or weaken the physician–patient relationship? Physicians should and do remain in control of prescribing medicines. As the article by Rosenthal et al. in this issue of the Journal ² makes clear, pharmaceutical companies recognize this fact by directing a large proportion of their . . .