Sliver Spring, MD. – Earlier this week, the FDA announced they are proposing a new study to look at whether patients are being bombarded and over-warned within direct to consumer prescription advertisements. This is news that not only has consumers rejoicing but also ad executives around the globe.
At what point have we all stopped paying attention to these ads due to the mind-numbing detail reviewed?
“Detailing too many risks may lead consumers to discount all risks, or miss the most important risk information,” the FDA said in its research proposal.
However, with any proposal, there is still so much work to be done. For example, while the FDA may loosen rules around how much is to be displayed or reviewed within each ad, will pharmaceutical companies respond favorably? If a patient isn’t given enough warning – could that lead to more litigation when something goes wrong?
This potential new balance will be a new interesting barrier ad agencies and their pharma clientele will have to work through.
Read the entire article about the announcement here.
Why This Matters –
This proof point is closely tied to one of the trends we’re following this year is called Still Don’t Get it. This trend follows the drudge of overwhelming healthcare information patients receive and the complexity of how the information is delivered. We’re seeing this example as well as several others that are bringing health literacy back into the spotlight and driving simplified approaches to making sure consumers receive the most necessary information when, where and how they prefer.
It will be interesting to see (what I assume to be overwhelmingly sided with supporting the change) the results of this study and how agencies and pharma companies react and resolve to move forward. I’m sure this news has created an optimistically cautious celebration for ad executives. Time will tell!
