As Physicians Shift from Private Practice to Hospital-based Practices, Drug Advertising Increasingly Targets Consumers

DTCPA has grown 20% each year for the past 15 years, or twice as fast as advertising directed at physicians. The ads promote dialogue between patient and doctor, and patients tend to ask more though-provoking questions. Heightened awareness of the drug by the patient and family, and possible side effects, prompts better detection and reporting of adverse reactions.

Oddly enough, the U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries permitting direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. Canada does with some limitations. The EU voted against DTCPA back in 2008.