Spending soars on U.S. drug ads

Spending on drug advertising in the United States rose by a staggering 330%
Helen Branswell
Canadian Press

Spending on drug advertising aimed directly at consumers in the United States rose by a staggering 330 per cent in the first decade after drug companies were freed to pitch their wares directly to the public, a new study shows. The amount rose to just under $30 billion U.S. for the year 2005.

The work, published the New England Journal of Medicine last week, revealed that new ad campaigns typically start within a year of a drug's arrival on the market – a time when it has been suggested that drug companies should not be allowed to advertise a drug.

Earlier this year a report published by the U.S. Institute of Medicine recommended that the American drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, bar drug companies from advertising prescription drugs in the first two years after they come to market.

See: http://www.thestar.com/living/article/247830