Pharma cos pressurise govt to legalise DTCAs

KARACHI - The pharmaceutical companies are building up pressure on the government to legalise Direct To Consumer Advertisements (DTCAs) which is illegal according to the country’s Drug Act 1976, The Nation has learnt.
They justify this by saying that DTCAs increase drug spending and downplay the side effects of drugs.
The companies further say that in Pakistani scenario the legalisation of DTCs, already prevalence of self-medication and the ease with which prescription drugs are available over the counter, would incline many to use the advertisements as an objective source of information and resultantly become more effective in Pakistan.
It is pertinent to mention that the value of doctor-targeted promotional activities are reinforcing regardless of what most patients think, and doctors are undeniably influenced by sales reps.
Abrar Ahmed Agha. while talking to the Nation said that direct-to-consumer drug advertising is a bad idea because it puts product-promoting entity between the patient and the doctor and it essentially enlists the patient in its advertising campaign.
These ads corrupt the doctor-patient relationship, and attempt to “de-professionalize” medicine, and many of these ads are simply deceptive, he added.
He while citing his research in this regard said that in many countries the Direct to Consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical marketing has achieved a rapid growth in spending on drugs, and also a rise in drug prices as companies seek to recover their marketing costs.
Now, more and more patients are pushing their doctors to prescribe them medicines they may not need, moreover, there has also been an increasing trend in pharmaceutical advertising taking inspiration from consumer goods advertising, including hiring celebrity spokespersons, and sponsoring high-publicity events, he added.