23.1 Direct to Consumer Advertising with Michael Shuman, PharmD: Background and History

Join me and PharmD Michael Shuman as we discuss the negative impact of Direct-To-Consumer-Advertising (DTCA) in the US Healthcare System.  This is a recurring series where Dr. Shuman and I will talk about various examples of the negative impacts of DTCA in America over the last 40+ years.  We're living and working in a system now that is rife with misinformation and poor-quality research, and we want to make everyone a little more aware at just how many examples of poorly designed and carried out drug trials and direct manipulation of data exist in history.  Hopefully, we can instill systematic change that will improve how we go about measuring the safety and efficacy profiles of each new drug.

In this first episode, we delve into the history of DTCA and marketing in healthcare.  We discuss the Wild West of drug marketing and distribution in the 1800s and into the 1900s, the transition from pharmaceutical marketing dollars being targeted towards physicians to directly to consumers, and how the Sulfanilomide and Thalidomide catastrophes influenced the evolution of the system in the United States.  Michael discusses how companies will run condition ads that superficially appear to be Public Service Announcements (PSAs), but unsurprisingly, we discover that the same company that runs the 'educational PSA' also produces the medication or treatment for said condition.  Finally, we reveal how the 'Brief Summary Requirement' loophole of 1997, allowing pharmaceutical companies to direct consumers to a toll free phone number OR their pharmacist OR their website paved the way for our current advertising system where roughly 1 in 6 TV advertisements are for pharmaceutical products (and significantly higher during the pandemic, with some areas having 75% of TV ads promoting pharmaceutical products.  Hope you enjoy.  Michael will be a recurring guest for his recurring series on DTCA for our listeners to enjoy over the next several months.

Thanks for listening to the audio podcast... You should check out our posted video podcast on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaZ1bds1MGMM4tSbY7ISqug) as there are graphics overlaying the video to make it all more interactive and educational.  For more social media content, check us out on all social media platforms @RenegadePsych. If you have any comments, questions or challenges to the information we've presented here, if you'd like to be a guest to the show, or if you have general comments, questions, or suggestions, email us at Renegadepsych@gmail.com and follow the link https://renegade-psych.podcastpage.io/  to our website for source material, transcripts, and additional links for my guests. If you feel passionate about our message and what we're trying to do, and you'd like to donate, you can also follow the link in the show notes to our website.

Disclaimer, this podcast is for informational purposes only. The information provided in this podcast and related materials are meant only to educate.  This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While I am a medical doctor and many of my guests have extensive medical training and experience, nothing stated in this podcast nor materials related to this podcast, including recommended websites, texts, graphics, images, or any other materials should be treated as a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment. All listeners should consult with a medical professional, licensed mental health provider or other healthcare provider if seeking medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.