Prescriptions up as drugmakers spend
more on ads
By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY
Drug companies, in the face of growing consumer criticism
over pricing, spent more than $2.1 billion last year hawking their products
directly to consumers, a 17% increase over 1999.
And Americans bought more drugs.
The number of prescriptions written rose 6% for the full
year, while industrywide U.S. sales jumped about 15%, from $126 billion to $145
billion.
The actual advertising figure will be higher than $2.1
billion because those numbers reflect only the first 10 months of the year,
according to data gathered by IMS Health and Competitive Media Reporting, health
care information companies.
And the advertising figures don't include several hundred
million spent in medical journals.
The increase in advertising comes as employers, consumers
and lawmakers debate ways to control spending on prescription drugs, now the
fastest-rising component of health care inflation.
Spending on drugs is rising for several reasons, including
new, more expensive drugs coming on the market, an aging population and price
increases.
IMS Health reports that prices of drugs rose 3.9% last
year.
Drug industry critics fear that consumer advertising
increases costs and may lead some patients to take drugs they don't need, or opt
for high-cost treatments when low-cost generic or over-the-counter remedies may
be equally effective.
"They are artificially inflating the demand for drugs,"
says Ron Pollack of advocacy group Families USA. "Typically what gets advertised
are brand-name drugs. There may be a generic drug out there that is as good for
patients, but they're unaware of that drug."
Pollack says that as a result, "by pressuring doctors for a
brand-name drug, they are paying considerably more than they would if the
physician prescribed a generic."
Industry defends ads
But the drug industry counters that advertising is good for
patients.
"Consumer advertising empowers patients," by getting them
to talk with their doctors, says Alan Holmer, president of the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America. "It helps solve problems of
underdiagnosis and treatment and still leaves the prescribing decision up to the
doctor."
Data from the first 10 months of 2000 show that Merck led
the pack, spending more than $318 million on advertising. Merck spent $145
million alone touting its new arthritis treatment, Vioxx, the most heavily
advertised drug on the U.S. market.
The advertising may have paid off for Merck, as sales of
Vioxx rose 308%, bringing in $1.5 billion.
Rival arthritis treatment Celebrex by Pfizer also was among
the top 10 most heavily advertised drugs. The company saw sales of that product
rise 52% to $2.2 billion.
Together, the companies spent $206 million on advertising
the new drugs, which claim to ease pain without the stomach problems associated
with older remedies on the market.
But drug firms spent the most to advertise drugs in the
hotly competitive allergy market. Four drugs alone accounted for $294 million in
advertising: Schering-Plough's Claritin, GlaxoSmithKline's Flonase, Pfizer's
Zyrtec and Aventis' Allegra.
Others on the top 10 list include AstraZeneca's acid
stomach medication Prilosec, Pfizer's sexual function treatment Viagra,
GlaxoSmithKline's antidepressant Paxil and newcomer to the top 10 list, American
Home Product's menopause treatment Prempro.
