Zoomer boomer health lifestyle trend drug prescription medicine marketing consumer strategy AgeVenture Demko

Dragged Toward Drugs and Doctored to Death
Dr. David Demko, gerontologist and editor
AgeVenture News Service

Knowledge is power ... and some times that "power" can be dangerous to your health. I'm talking about marketing drugs directly to the consumer via television, radio, newspaper, magazine, newsletter, and Internet advertising. These days, consumers are virtually bombarded with drugs ads. And, if you've got aches, pains, and ailments ... those offers of drug-induced relief can sound very good.

"Too little knowledge" can be a dangerous thing because consumers don't know enough about medicine to self-diagnose. But if they want a prescription drug bad enough consumers will get their hands on what they personally believe they need, despite their doctor's advice to the contrary.

To make matters worse, your doctor may not be qualified to offer sound advice on comparative drug shopping. As a case in point, several years after graduating from the University of Michigan, my alumni newsletter announced that the university had launched a new doctoral program designed to create professionals qualified to consult with physicians on use of prescription medications. Why? Because doctors often rely on pharmaceutical salesman for information about new and existing drugs.

Any gerontologist, myself included, has heard horror stories of senior citizens sitting around the retirement community swimming pool discussing the latest medication. "Oh, you haven't tried it?" says one retiree to another. "Well, I'll give you a couple of my pills to try". It's like, "Oh, your lawn mower doesn't work, then you can borrow mine." And so it goes.

A Penn State University (PSU) analysis of 84 pharmaceutical ads in 24 popular magazines shows that the ads adhered strictly to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines such as spelling out appropriate usage and possible side effects. However, all the hype about medications may be potentially harmful to seniors.

The drug companies, says Penn State University (PSU) researcher, Dr. Mary Beth Pinto, "used a variety of emotional cues to capture the reader's attention." The largest percentage of emotional appeals, says Pinto, used fear as a motivator for buying the drug. A breakdown on the research findings related to pharmaceutical company advertising pitches are listed below.

43% of the ads appealed to the consumer's "fear" of life-threatening illnesses
31% were classified as attempts to evoke "humor"
30% emphasized "relationships", frequently involving children
nearly nine percent used "guilt" to influence the consumer

nearly nine percent use "sexual" references

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertising is projected to be the fastest growing major advertising category, surpassing even technology, fast food and soft drink marketers, according to Dr. Mary Beth Pinto, assistant professor of marketing at Penn State University. Here's just how big the effort is now, and the dramatic rate of growth that got us to this point in drug advertising history. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising of prescription drugs totalled $40 million in 1989, $350 million in 1995, and $1.5 billion at the time of Pinto's research (2000).

Don't expect this problem to go away any time soon. The average retire takes 13 medications per year. And that does not include the virtually unregulated, over-the-counter dietary supplement market. Best advice is to log on to the National Institutes of Health information network for updates on medications and dietary supplements. Expect American consumers to be continually dragged toward drugs and doctored to death.