Drug Ads Do Not Provide Accurate Picture of Benefits and Side-Effects

Majority of the drug ads displayed on the television do not provide an accurate picture of the drug’s benefits.

A new study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine reveals that majority of the drug ads displayed on the television do not provide an accurate picture of the drug’s benefits and downsides.

Researchers led by Adrienne Faerber from The Dartmouth Institute analyzed over 168 ads of pharmaceutical products aired between 2008 and 2010 on some of the popular TV channels such as ABC, CBS and NBC during prime time.

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They found that the claims of over 60 percent of the ads were misleading as they left out or exaggerated information, gave opinions or meaninglessly linked lifestyle choices with the drugs.

“Healthcare consumers need unrestricted access to high-quality information about health. But these TV drug ads had misleading statements that omitted or exaggerated information. These results conflict with arguments that drug ads are helping inform consumers”, Faerber said.

Source-Medindia

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