Direct‐to‐Consumer Advertising

The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) discourages the use of direct‐to‐consumer advertising that promotes specific prescription drug products, and supports advertisements that educate the public about disease symptoms and available treatment options. 

AMCP recognizes that the public has a personal interest and responsibility in managing their health care. Advertising that increases public awareness about disease symptoms, informs consumers about available treatment options and diagnostic procedures, and encourages people to pursue healthy lifestyles can improve the health status of patients.^1,2 AMCP supports improving patient engagement, and encourages advertising that increases the knowledge level of patients regarding a particular disease and promotes the importance of good compliance or adherence to medications. 

AMCP strongly discourages advertising aimed at consumers that promotes the use of specific prescription drug products. Such advertising aims to increase a product's market share or create a new market for the product. AMCP advocates for the appropriate use of prescription drug products and encourages providers to select products based on the needs of the patient in conjunction with prescription drug benefit designs. AMCP supports patients working with their pharmacist and other health care provider to make appropriate treatment choices.³ Whether or not a prescription item is medically indicated for a given patient, direct‐to‐consumer advertising of the product can create unwarranted patient demand. These advertisements are not reviewed by  the FDA prior to publication and can often be misleading because they typically fail to 1) sufficiently inform the patient about the underlying disease(s) including various non-drug treatment options; 2) sufficiently warn consumers about the potential risks of using the product; 3) inform them about alternative treatment options, and 4) fail to provide information about cost issues.³  Transparency in advertising offers a solution to the issues previously raised. AMCP supports statutory requirements for manufacturers to disclose pricing information in direct-to-consumer advertisements. Additionally,  a mechanism exists through the FDA for the public to report misleading advertisements.⁵

See also:

AMCP Where We Stand series: https://www.amcp.org/policy-advocacy/policy-advocacy-focus-areas/where-we-stand-position-statements

Revised by the AMCP Board of Directors, March 2023

Revised by the AMCP Board of Directors, February 2017 

¹Parekh, N and Shrank, WH. “Dangers and Opportunities of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising.” J Gen Intern Med. 2018 May, 33 (5): 586-587. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-018-4342-9.    

²DeFrank, J., Berkman, N., Kahwati, L., Cullen, K., Aikin, K., & Sullivan, H.W. “Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs and the Patient Prescriber Encounter: A Systematic Review.” Health Commune. 2020 May;35(6):739-746. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2019.1584781.  

³ “Prescription Drug Advertising.” U.S. Food & Drug Administration. 2019 July. Accessed online: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-consumers-and-patients-drugs/prescription-drug-advertising.  

⁴ Dumit, Joseph. "Pharmaceutical Witnessing: Drugs for Life in an Era of Direct to Consumer Advertising." The Pharmaceutical Studies Reader. N.p.: John Wiley & Sons, 2015. 35-40. Wiley Blackwell, 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.