Are Drug.com Websites “Fair and Balanced?” FDA Studies Online DTC Prescription Drug Promotion
According to Internet analytics provider comScore, patients who visit a drug brand’s website are more likely to end up taking that drug than those who don’t. FDA is aware of this and cited a Prevention Magazine 2011 survey that found that 49 percent of respondents who went online for prescription drug information reported seeking this information on a specific brand’s Web site.
As a consequence of this influence of the Internet, FDA is currently studying how consumers interact with drug.com websites. Specifically, according to an April, 2011, public notice, FDA has a number of questions surrounding how to achieve “fair balance” in online DTC promotion.
This article reviews the study “Examination of Online Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Promotion” (FDA-2011-N-0230), which is designed to test different ways of presenting prescription drug risk and benefit information on branded drug Web sites.
Topics include (partial list):
- Is FDA Out of Touch?
- Format & Visibility of ISI
- Table: Recent Rx Drug Advertising Studies proposed by FDA
- What About Online Testimonials?
- To Link or Not To Link?
- Impact on Internet Guidance
Download the full text PDF file here:
www.pharma-mkting.com/news/pmnews1310-article01.pdf
PMN1310-01
Issue: Vol. 13, No. 10: December 2014
