Emotive drug advertising put on report

By FRANCESCA MOLD health reporter

The Government has begun a review of emotive advertisements for treating conditions such as sexual impotence, obesity and hair loss.

A spokesman for Health Minister Annette King yesterday confirmed that direct-to-consumer advertising of medicines would be reviewed.

No decision has been made on which products will be reviewed but they are expected to range from seaweed extracts to cold sore remedies, the sex drug Viagra and various antibiotics.

The Health Ministry review follows concerns that drug company advertising preys on vulnerable people who pressure their doctors to prescribe medication that may be inappropriate or unnecessary.

The review, which begins with the release of a discussion document next month, will look at policy and whether law changes are needed to ensure the advertising is in the best interests of consumers, and is safe and cost-effective.

Annette King has in the past indicated a possible ban on such advertising in New Zealand, one of just two countries to allow the practice.

Medical Association chairwoman Dr Pippa MacKay said the organisation supported the review as there was anxiety about the pressure that drug advertising put on the doctor-patient relationship.

The United States had seen a huge rise in pharmaceutical spending as the result of such advertising and doctors would be concerned if the same happened here.



Pharmac general manager Wayne McNee said he was pleased the review had been announced as the Government drug agency has consistently expressed concern that such advertising causes patient confusion, leads to pressure on doctors to prescribe unnecessary drugs and affects Government spending on pharmaceuticals.

US figures demonstrate the effect direct-to-consumer advertising can have on drug company profits.

In 1996, the allergy drug Claratyne made $US600 million in sales.

The next year the company spent $55 million on direct-to-consumer advertising of Claratyne and the profits rocketed as a result.

The Researched Medicines Industry, which represents drug companies, has said it wants to retain the right to self-regulate the content and presentation of advertising.

The proposed review follows a similar investigation in Australia, which recommended that direct-to-consumer advertising continue to be prohibited. It found controls offered a net public benefit over deregulation.

Meanwhile, the Advertising Standards Complaints Board has upheld a complaint about the use of a topless woman in a Xenical advertisement being run on the back of buses.

The advertisement uses the image of a young, slim woman naked to the waist, with hair covering her breasts.

"In terms of the product use ... the image was gratuitous. In other words, the advertiser used the nakedness of a slim young woman to sell a therapeutic product targeting seriously obese people."

It also said the mandatory fine print would be incomprehensible to some people..