Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Consumer Ads Boost Doctor Prescriptions ABC News story - "Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs seems to increase the likelihood that physicians will prescribe those drugs, according to a study in the April 27th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. This can have mixed results in patient care, averting underuse in some cases and promoting overuse in others. To ascertain the effects of patients' requests influenced by direct-to-consumer advertising, Dr. Richard L. Kravitz, of the University of California, Davis, and colleagues used 'standardized patients,' actors trained to present at primary care physicians' offices with symptoms consistent with one of two conditions, major depression or adjustment disorder...."