The Fact
A JAMA analysis of U.S. medical marketing found that spending on direct-to-consumer prescription-drug advertising increased from $1.3 billion in 1997 to $6.0 billion in 2016, measured in 2016 dollars.
What This Means
Prescription-drug marketing became a much larger direct presence in ordinary consumers' information environment over this period. People were increasingly exposed to branded medical messages before or outside a clinical conversation.
Sources
- Schwartz LM, Woloshin S. Medical Marketing in the United States, 1997-2016. JAMA. 2019;321(1):80-96.