Washington: A paper to be published in the next issue of Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine, has claimed that medical journals by accepting advertisements solely for drugs and medical devices, are moving into a dependent relationship with pharmaceutical firms.
According to their study, drug companies get a huge return on investment from these advertisements, and increases prescriptions for targeted drugs in a dose-related manner.
Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD, and colleagues further cited one study in their paper, which found that the average revenue hike is 5:1 for every dollar spent on drug ads, in any given month studied.
Eight of the nine journals studied by the Georgetown researchers contained advertisements that were almost exclusively for drugs. A detailed analysis of representative issues of JAMA, for example, found that 99 per cent of 2004’s advertisements were for pharmaceuticals.
The study reviewed both advertising policies and materials meant to entice advertisers, for example, the advertising rate card for the Annals of Internal Medicine states that the journal’s audience constitutes the ideal market for advertisers like you wishing to reach high-prescribing clinicians treating adult patients.
An advertisement in publications aimed at drug companies states, "Place your ad in the New England Journal of Medicine and make our relationship with the medical community yours."
The authors said that the time has come for medical journals to eschew drug advertisements.
"Why not run ads for cars, computers, vacations, or other consumer products that doctors would buy for themselves?" Fugh-Berman said.
"Advertising rates in medical journals are lower than for consumer magazines and reach a targeted audience. A doctor whose prescribing is swayed by a drug ad isn’t paying for the product advertised," she added.
The researchers concluded their study on the note, that the pharmaceutical firms should find sources of revenue other than drug advertisements, which would be less compromising.
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