Retell Lecture

The amount of money drug company spend on TV ads has doubled in recent years, and it's no wonder the study shows the commercial is at work. Consumers to go their doctors with a suggestion for prescription drug they saw advertised on TV. Now a study in the annals of Family Medicine raises questions about the message these ads promote NPR's Patti Neighmond reports. You are most likely to see drug ads during prime time, especially around the news. Researchers analyzed 38 ads aimed at people with conditions like hypertension, herpes, high cholesterol, depression, arthritis and allergies. The drug industry says these ads arm consumers with information but researchers found that though the information was technically accurate, the tone was misleading. UCLA psychologist Dominic Frosh headed to study. What we would see in these ads is that before taking the prescription drug, the character's life was out of control, and the loss of control really extended beyond just be the impact of the health condition. For example, herpes patients were portrayed as being incapacitated for days, insomniacs utterly out of sync on the job and depressed patients friendless and boring at parties. When the character has been shown taking the drugs, he been magically regained complete control of his life. None of the ads of course mentioned lifestyle changes that could also help treat the condition after all its mass marketing. But in this case Forsh says prescription medications are not like soap. Drug advertisement are shown frequently on TV, the money they spent on advertisements is doubled in recent years. Those advertisements have changed consumer behaviors, consumers go to their doctors and nominate drugs they have seen via TV advertisements. The messages drug ads promote are rather questionable, as authorities analyzed 38 advertisements and uncovered misleading perception despite the fact that some ads are technically accurate.