The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) yesterday issued its awaited set of draft guidelines on DTC advertising, a code that falls short of a moratorium on advertising following drug release and instead endorses an unspecified period of “conversation” with doctors before running ads.
Areas addressed by the guidelines include:
•Conversations with physicians prior to the launch of a new direct-to-consumer campaign.
•Targeting of TV advertisements for audience and age appropriateness.
•Promotion of health and disease awareness by companies as part of their advertising.
• Inclusion of information about assistance programs for the uninsured and low-income.
Much to the chagrin of industry critics, who have argued that physicians need a significant amount of time to understand drugs before patients request them, the draft code of time between the release of a drug and the start of advertising similar to Bristol-Myers Squibb’s adoption last month of a voluntary 12-month ban on DTC advertising following product debut.
“Can we do a better job in advertising? Yes, and we will,” PhRMA spokesman Ken Johnson said in a report in today’s New York Post.
“But we also believe that patients have a right to know about new drugs that can improve their health and quality of life.”
PhRMA draft DTC guidelines call for doctor ‘conversation’
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) yesterday issued its awaited set of draft guidelines on DTC advertising, a code that falls short of a moratorium on advertising following drug release and instead endorses an unspecified period of “conversation” with doctors before running ads.