"Prescription drug advertisements prompt nearly one-third of U.S. adults to ask their physicians about an advertised medicine, and 82% of those who ask about drugs are given a prescription, according to a survey by USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard University School of Public Health, USA Today reports (Appleby [1], USA Today, 3/4). The telephone survey included responses from a nationally representative sample of 1,695 U.S. adults from Jan. 3 to Jan. 23 and has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points...If we were fitter, we would spend less on this crap.
The survey found that among adults who requested a specific drug, 44% said physicians prescribed the one they asked for, slightly more than half said they were prescribed a different drug and, in some cases, they received prescriptions for both. When duplicate answers were removed, 82% of patients were given some type of prescription, the survey found.
The survey shows the percentage of U.S. adults who receive prescriptions after asking about an ad has increased since 2005, when 75% of adults who asked about drugs said their physicians recommended some type of drug. FDA began allowing drug makers to advertise directly to consumers on television in 1997. Spending on drug ads reached an all-time high of $4.8 billion in 2006, compared with $2.6 billion in 2002."
If we were smarter, we wouldn't fall for the hype.
"Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman said, 'Our survey shows why the drug companies run all these ads: They work.' Altman added, 'Many people get drugs they otherwise wouldn't. While there's a debate about whether that's a good thing for patients, it does cost the country more.'"Wise up.
"The survey is available online."
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