A study from 2021 stated the amount of money spent on direct to consumer prescription drug advertising increased 460% between 1997 and 2016. An estimated $10 billon was spent in 2016 alone. According to consumer behavior researcher Brent Rollins, PhD, RPh, associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at PCOM Georgia, there are only two countries in the world that allow direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medications: the United States and New Zealand.
Direct to consumer advertising is the promotion of prescription drugs by pharmaceutical companies through various media channels such as TV, social media and print.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through the Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP) is responsible for regulating prescription drug ads. But the FDA does not typically get to review and approve drug ads before they are viewed by consumers. The FDA website states, “consumers should know that they may not necessarily be able to tell whether any specific DTC ad includes false or misleading information.”
Through his research, Dr. Rollins wants to understand how healthcare consumers behave and the best ways to communicate with them through direct to consumer advertising. “Since it's explosion in the late 90s, early 2000s, it's been a topic that's been vastly researched,” Rollins explained. The goal is finding “the balance of giving information to the general healthcare consumer, but then also having the best conversations with physicians, not altering utilization or creating other healthcare issues.”
One of the OPDP’s main objectives is to ensure advertisements portray an accurate representation of the product's benefits and risks. Downplaying potential side effects, overstating benefits and making unsubstantiated claims are all violations of the law.
Dr. Rollins’ interest in DTCA began in graduate school with a course on consumer behavior. During the course, Rollins worked on a project related to a specific ad campaign by Eli Lilly titled "Depression Hurts." The ad was aimed at raising awareness about depression as a health condition rather than promoting a specific product. “I looked at and started to look at those type of ads where the product itself was not mentioned, and then that eventually evolved itself into my dissertation,” Rollins said. His research looked at how consumers respond to ads that initially discuss a disease state and later transition to promoting a specific product, using Eli Lilly's Cymbalta ads as an example.
Dr. Rollins has seen numerous pharmacy students transition from PCOM’s School of Pharmacy into the pharmaceutical industry through fellowships, rotations and internships. His goal is to further expand this pathway for students which allows pharmacy graduates to bring their drug-related knowledge and skills to diverse sectors, such as technology companies and healthcare entities. He hopes to facilitate internships and rotations to provide practical experience and, through the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum, prepare students for successful careers in the pharmaceutical industry.
“The knowledge of the drugs and knowledge of the healthcare system and the skills they have are the valuable component,” Rollins said.
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