Share this [7]
A coalition of European health groups, including the International Society of Drug Bulletins and the Medicines in Europe Forum, is alarmed at a renewed campaign by the drug industry to lift the ban on direct-to-consumer advertising in Europe [8]. While acknowledging consumer information about health is essential, the groups are concerned that backdoor direct-to-consumer advertising [9] (DTCA) through "disease awareness" campaigns and the direct or indirect funding of patient groups [10] by drug companies "have blurred the boundaries between drug promotion and health information." They argue that there "needs to be a clear distinction between information and advertising that is disguised as 'information.'" Meanwhile, the New Zealand Minister for Health, Pete Hodgson, has said that [11] he will shortly announce a decision on a review of DTCA advertising [12]. New Zealand and the U.S. are the only countries which currently allow DTCA ads. Public health groups are urging [13] the government to ban the ads.
Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/7/bob-burton
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/marketing/advertising
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/public-relations/issue-management
[4] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/health
[5] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/international
[6] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/pharmaceuticals
[7] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fspin%2F2006%2F10%2F5298%2Fdrug-ads-debate-heats-europe-and-new-zealand&linkname=Drug%20Ads%20Debate%20Heats%20Up%20in%20Europe%20and%20New%20Zealand
[8] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Direct-to-consumer_advertising:_The_Campaign_To_Overturn_Europe's_Ban
[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/direct-to-consumer_advertising
[10] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/patient_groups
[11] http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&ObjectID=10404469
[12] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/New_Zealand_Direct-to-consumer_advertising
[13] http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE0610/S00020.htm
[14] http://66.71.191.169/isdbweb/pag/documents/DeclarationInfoPatientFINAL2909.pdf