New Zealand and the United States are the only countries in the world that allow so-called "direct to consumer advertising" (DTCA) for prescription drugs and the European Union, through the "Global Pharmaceutical Forum", is debating whether to align to overseas policies
«The European Commission - declares Giampaolo Velo, pharmacologist and director of the WHO reference center for drug communication, University of Verona - had already tried it in 2002 without success because the European Parliament, with 494 members against and 42 in favour, rejected the proposal. Last June, the Commission decided to resume the discussion and to carry it forward with new vigour. The goal is to allow the advertising of all medicines, including ethical ones (subject to medical prescription and/or dispensed by the NHS, ed.). On this rather delicate subject, a consultation was opened between all the interested parties (associations, scientific companies, pharmaceutical industries, etc.). For this purpose, in June 2005, the "Pharmaceutical Forum" was created (a working group made up of two European Commissioners, three MEPs, Ministers of the Member States, no less than five pharmaceutical industry associations, representatives of medical health sector and associations, editor's note), with the expectation of completing the operation by 2007». «Having said this - continues Velo - I believe that we should start from the consideration that the advertising of drugs aimed at the citizen has, like all forms of advertising, the aim of selling more. However, we must not forget that the drug is not a consumer good. We are therefore faced with a problem not only of ethics, but also of malpractice because the intrinsic objective of advertising is to create greater consumption, not better consumption; to arrive at a better use of medicines there are methods other than advertising information directed at the citizen. My personal position is therefore absolutely against it especially since we are talking about prescription drugs. I would add that I am also against direct advertising of OTC medicines because they are always active substances, perhaps less "risky" but with a pharmacological activity». Advertising of drugs in the USA Giampaolo Velo goes on to recall that: «direct advertising of drugs to the consumer is currently free only in New Zealand and the United States, and the latter represent the largest drug market in the world. In this regard, it is worth taking a look at the numbers which demonstrate how, from 1997 to 2005, there was an increase in DTCA investments of 296.4% in the USA: from 1.1 to 4.2 billion dollars according to estimates of the Government Accountability Offi ce, report no. GAO-0754, December 14, 2006. The greatest expense is obviously aimed at drugs that may have more market (anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, etc.). In the United States, even if the problem is the subject of debate, it still clashes with the extreme liberalization of the market even if, lately, there have been some attempts to set limits by the FDA and the Senate. For example, Senator Edward Kennedy, along with others, has tried to advance a proposal that direct-to-consumer advertising be prohibited in the first two years of a drug's marketing. In fact, when a drug is placed on the market, a lot is known about its therapeutic efficacy, but its safety profile is much less known and, only after it is
