Information contained in big blocks of fair balance text in DTC ads is lost on consumers, but simplified “facts boxes” fare better, a study found.
One concern stated in the abstract of the study, published online by the Annals of Internal Medicine, was the lack of standardized information about the benefits and harms of drug therapies. The authors of the study called on FDA staff to implement fact boxes, and to produce and routinely update them internally. The study, authored by Lisa Schwartz, Steven Woloshin and Gilbert Welch, all members of the faculty at Dartmouth Medical School, was presented to FDA’s risk advisory committee meeting in February.