BMJ  2008;336:787 (12 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39542.489329.BE

Letters

Direct to consumer advertising

A cynical consultation exercise?

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

The dismal proposals to allow pharmaceutical companies to promote prescription drugs directly to consumers have been orchestrated by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry (DGEI).¹

The DGEI’s main objective is to promote European trade and economic development, which presents grotesque conflicts of interest when it comes to shaping health policy. DGEI greatly overestimates the support the proposals deserve, no doubt partly in the expectation of strong backing from the industry-funded patient groups that it has traditionally promoted and preferred.

The consultation document lacks any coherent health impact assessment. It blurs the distinction between high and low quality information, and takes no account of the health impact of the far greater quantities of partial information to which people will now be exposed. That is a crucial omission.

The activities of the leading pharmaceutical companies mainly distract from the health problems we face. Though sometimes extremely valuable, drugs can . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Social Audit, PO Box 111, London NW1 8XG

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