Perspectiva ética de la publicidad de medicamentos de prescripción dirigida al consumidor

Resumen

Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs (DTC) can be defined as the promotional effort made by the pharmaceutical companies directly to general public through the mass media of �prescription only� drugs. DTC is only allowed in United States and New Zealand. Pharmaceutical companies have tried unsuccessfully to overturn bans against DTC in some regions of the World, such as in the European Union. DTC began in the United States during the 1980s but the potentially great effect over the general population started on 1997 in which TV and radio advertising were unbanned. As far as the practice could be allowed in the European Union, we discussed the ethical aspects of the DTC and the potential effects on the general public. Arguments in support and opposing DTC advertising were discussed. Between the arguments in support we can point out that DTC is educative and aims the patient-physician contact. On the other side we can indicate as negative aspects that this kind of advertising could be considered as misleading and could encourage the medical expenditure. Medicines are one of the most important goods of the humanity. The rational use of drugs, and of course the information about them, will be one of the main aspects of the new empowered person in the next following years. We consider that commercial aspects of the drugs are less relevant than the health concerning ones. After a very careful assessment of the positive and the negative aspects of this practice from an ethical point of view, we consider that Direct-to-Consumer advertising could be considered educational, but it depends on the health literacy of the particular patient, so it could be potentially dangerous for general public if it is not properly managed and controlled by all partners involved.