Pharmaceutical Industry’s Principles for Ethical Direct-to-Consumer Advertising as a Deceptive Strategy

A new study in Journal of Health, Politics, Policy and Law shows how five leading drug companies violated industry-developed standards for ethical advertising in the United States. The authors demonstrate a consistent failure by companies that market erectile dysfunction drugs to comply with the industry’s guiding principles for ethical DTCA despite pledges of compliance by company leaders.  They recommend policy responses to prevent deceptive practices, protect children from adult content, and promote genuine health care education.