Unlike in the United States and New Zealand, it’s illegal in Australia to advertise prescription medicines directly to the public.
The main idea is to avoid demand for a drug that may not be appropriate, but which doctors may feel under pressure to prescribe.
But drug companies can get around this restriction by running “awareness” ads that indirectly promote their products.
For instance, we’re currently seeing ads raising awareness about weight loss that don’t mention the names of specific Ozempic-style drugs. Instead, these ads recommend you speak to your doctor about your weight.
The main argument for such awareness ads is they encourage people to seek help from their doctor, rather than suffer from symptoms they might have been embarrassed about, or have not been able to address themselves.
For instance, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly – which make weight-loss drugs – told the ABC recently their campaigns were trying to raise awareness of obesity as a chronic disease.
The main counterargument is that awareness ads act as drug promotion in disguise.
So, should pharmaceutical companies be allowed to run awareness ads for diseases or conditions their drugs treat?
We asked five experts. Four out of five said no. Here are their detailed answers.
Barbara Mintzes, Professor in Pharmaceutical Policy, School of Pharmacy and Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney; David Menkes, Associate Professor in Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Fiona Willer, Lecturer, Dietitian and Bioethicist, Queensland University of Technology; Jennifer Power, Principal Research Fellow, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, and Ray Moynihan, Senior Research Manager, University of Sydney and Honorary Assistant Professor, Bond University
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