Why do TV drug ads not tell you what the drug does?

[KXL]

For a long time I had no idea what Clarinex did because the ads on TV don’t say (unlike, say, beer ads which clearly tell you that beautiful women will appear and you’ll be making $100,000 a year once you drink it). Why are they prohibited?

[Patty_O_Furniture]

I don’t think it’s prohibited, as such, but I imagine that drug companies are interested in preventing the ignorant public from attempting do diagnose our own health problems, thereby preventing some lawsuits against the aforementioned drug companies.

“Got heartburn-like symptoms? New Fire-X capsules might be the solution you’ve been looking for!”

Hearing this, hoards of heartburn sufferers might try to get Fire-X by hook or by crook, whether or not they really need it.

The next question is, I suppose, how do the people who really need Fire-X know that they should ask their doctors? I would think that people who are truly suffering would be putting a little bit of research into their condition and come up with the brand names of available medications, and then ask their doctors about them.

[RealityChuck]

I think the primary reason not to tell what a drug does is because then you don’t have to talk about the side effects, which may put people off.

However, if you just say, “ask your doctor is DrugX is right for you,” then you don’t have to mention “side effects include dry mouth and death.”

[Aguecheek]

RealityChuck’s pretty well got it spot-on. Pharmaceutical advertising is regulated by the FDA, which relaxed several rules regarding DTC (Direct To Consumer) advertising in 1997:

In August 1997, the FDA issued proposed guidelines that clarified the agency’s broadcast advertising (i.e., television and radio) requirements about a prescription drug’s side effects. No longer would the FDA require ads to contain voluminous information about the drug’s side effects in television and radio ads. Advertisements must still list major health risks and must include an 800 number, an Internet site or some other means for consumers to obtain information about side effects, such as a reference to a print advertisement. The agency has requested feedback on the proposed guidelines and will review comments before issuing final guidance.

The FDA’s decision to clarify its regulations stemmed from a policy that led to ineffective and confusing advertisements. Prior to the 1997 guidelines, FDA regulations required that information on side effects, contraindications and other FDA-approved labeling information had to be included in all advertisements that both name a prescription drug and state its purpose. Pharmaceutical companies which wanted to include both the name of the drug and the condition it was meant to treat were forced to include reams of small print spelling out the FDA-required information. While feasible in newspapers and magazines, such ads were not suitable for radio or television.

This regulation prompted companies to advertise on television in more oblique ways, which, while meeting legal requirements, may have been less helpful to consumers. In such ads, either the name of the medicine or the name of the illness was mentioned - but not both. Consumers were often left to guess what the medicine was for.

source

That’s why now they have to put in some contact information for you; so you can find out exactly what you’re looking at. The “ask your doctor” bit is mainly because they don’t want people self-diagnosing themselves. Were they to put “Hey hey! If you’ve got a runny nose and peeling fingernails, try Histrionix!” you’d have people left right and centre deciding that they had some gawdawful disease when it might just be allergies. “Ask your Doctor” encourages people to talk to their MD about their symptoms.

[lolagranola]

In Canada, you’re not allowed to say the name of the medication and what it is for in the same ad.

[KXL]

In Canada, you’re not allowed to say the name of the medication and what it is for in the same ad.

So, what are your ads like?

“This cures all baldness! Stay tuned for our next commercial to learn its name!” Fade to black.

New commercial: “It’s Superfix!” Fade to black.