Consumer advertising influences doctors' prescribing, study finds

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7498.983

BMJ 2005;330:983 (30 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7498.983

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Consumer advertising influences doctors' prescribing, study finds

Scott Gottlieb

New York

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Drug advertising that is aimed directly at consumers can haveimportant effects on treatment decisions. This is the conclusionof new research that tested doctors' responses to speciallybriefed patients who were sent to their clinics.

Patients asking for a specific drug, suchas one of those in the direct to consumer advertisements shownabove, are more likely to leave with a prescription than thosepatients who don't ask for a drug

Dr Richard Kravitz of the University of California's Departmentof Internal Medicine and colleagues created six standardisedpatients by crossing two conditions (major depression or adjustmentdisorder) with three different typical requests that patientsmight make of their doctors (a request for a specific brandof drug, a general request for a class of drugs, or no requestfor any drug) ( JAMA 2005;293: 1995-2002[Abstract/Free Full Text]). These standardisedpatients, who were played by actors, . . . [Full text of this article]

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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

An important issue highlighted: Graham LG McAll
bmj.com, 3 May 2005 [Full text]
The informed patient and quality of care: Peter D Singleton
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Advantages, too: Mira de Vries
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