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As advertising by health care professionals becomes more common, it is possible to gain the benefits of well-designed advertising without sacrificing professionalism. This author explains how, with a special emphasis on Yellow Pages advertising.
The advertisements in this journal show that hospitals in the Netherlands are using increasingly bizarre texts to recruit physicians. Not only do they unflinchingly exaggerate phrases to describe their achievements--'top-clinical care', 'customer-orientation', 'quality improvement'--but they even emphasize their attractive surroundings and the fervor of their policy. One wonders whose interests are being served by these inflated advertisements. They are, however, clearly at odds with the advertising restrictions imposed upon individual physicians.
The Chirogram was a popular and widespread chiropractic journal that was reborn in 1939 and lasted for 40 years. With 8,000 copies circulated for the debut May 1939 issue, the journal grew steadily to 11,000 copies per month by December 1944. As one of the largest journals of its time, the Chirogram was well supported by vendors that supplied chiropractors with products and services. By reviewing the advertisements, one can see through the eyes of early doctors; they saw the trends, fads, common remedies and popular treatments of the time. A manual search was conducted through the Chirogram from May 1939 to December 1944, and the advertisements were organized into categories. Each of the vendors were recorded and tallied for the year and month that they appeared. This quantitative study utilizes frequency counts and graphs of the data to provide insight into trends in advertising and practice styles of chiropractors in the early 1940s and relate them to then current events in the United States.
Among other things, this Hong Kong Ordinance amends the Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance to prohibit the advertising of medicine, surgical appliances, or treatments for the "induction of menstruation or relief of amenorrhea or delayed menstruation or any other gynecological or obstetrical disease." The Ordinance already prohibits advertisements relating to abortion.
TTB is amending the regulations to prohibit the appearance on labels or in advertisements of any health-related statement, including a specific health claim, that is untrue in any particular or tends to create a misleading impression. A specific health claim on a label or in an advertisement is considered misleading unless the claim is truthful and adequately substantiated by scientific evidence; properly detailed and qualified with respect to the categories of individuals to whom the claim applies; adequately discloses the health risks associated with both moderate and heavier levels of alcohol consumption; and outlines the categories of individuals for whom any levels of alcohol consumption may cause health risks. In addition, TTB will consult with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as needed, on the use of specific health claims on labels. If FDA determines that a specific health claim is a drug claim that is not in compliance with the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, TTB will not approve the use of such statement on a label. Health-related statements that are not specific health claims or health-related directional statements will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine if they tend to mislead consumers. The final rule provides that health-related directional statements (statements that direct or refer consumers to a third party or other source for information regarding the effects on health of alcohol consumption) will be presumed misleading unless those statements include a brief disclaimer advising consumers that the statement should not encourage consumption of alcohol for health reasons, or some other appropriate disclaimer to avoid misleading consumers. TTB believes that the final regulations will ensure that labels and advertisements do not contain statements or claims that would tend to mislead the consumer about the significant health consequences of alcohol consumption.
The use of food supplements by the general public is poorly quantified, and little information on this subject is available in the medical literature. We surveyed 12 recent issues of popular health and bodybuilding magazines (1) to quantify the number of advertisements for food supplements, the number of products advertised, and the number and type of ingredients in these products; (2) to identify the purported health benefits of these products; and (3) as a preliminary effort to identify areas for future research. We counted 89 brands, 311 products, and 235 unique ingredients, the most frequent of which were unspecified amino acids; the most frequently promoted health benefit was muscle growth. We also found many unusual or unidentifiable ingredients, and 22.2% of the products had no ingredients listed in their advertisements. Health professionals may not be aware of how popular food supplements are or of a particular supplement's potential effects or side effects. In addition, patients may be reluctant to discuss their use of these products with traditional medical practitioners. We recommend that routine history taking include specific questions about patients' use of food supplements and that any possible adverse effects or side effects be reported to public health authorities.
Newspaper advertisements were the predominant medium in informing people about new products midway through the Meiji Era. Subscribers to these newspapers, however, were still limited. At the time, expositions were wildly popular. Seizing the opportunity , in 1903 Fujisawa promoted his "Fujisawa Camphor" through aggressive advertising at the 5th Domestic Industrial Exposition in Osaka. The advertising proved to be a success, as Fujisawa took 2nd Prize of the exposition.
AIM: To study Finnish physicians' opinions of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs (DTCA) and other drug information sources for patients. METHOD: A survey was sent to all working-aged physicians (n=16,698; response rate 85%). RESULTS: Almost all physicians were against full DTCA, but half would allow advertising indirectly via patients organisations or healthcare units; 18% were against all types of DTCA. Thirty-six percent generally considered drug advertisements to patients and consumers to be harmful or useless. CONCLUSION: Further discussion of DTCA and other means of disseminating drug information are needed.
Yellow-page advertising is thought to be necessary for many practices. Purchasing such advertising is a relatively complex and expensive undertaking. This article outlines some of the pitfalls managers should consider when making such purchases. They should not be left to a neophyte. They should be considered within the general context of the practice's ability to market to patients directly, and careful attention must be given to the type, pricing, and placement of the advertising.
Physicians who prescribe medicaments to patients are the preferred target group of sales promotion by pharmaceutical industry. As studies show, pharmaceutical advertising actually exerts some influence on a physician's knowledge and habit of prescribing medicine, to the point of even inducing him to give preference to a special drug. Information on pharmaceuticals given by advertisements may contain some potential of bias, instead of offering the physician a chance of objectives additional training. Free gifts from the pharmaceutical industry may easily plunge a physician into a conflict of interest while giving therapy with drugs. The gift relationship established between him and pharmaceutical enterprises is apt to mutate to some sort of commitment he owes to the givers. Favouring a drug which has come about through he influence of advertising, can thus violate the principles of "good prescribing". For a treatment which contains potential for bias and a conflict of interest cannot possibly match the profession's principles of responsibility, fostering informed choice (autonomy), protecting the patient from harm (nonmaleficence), acting in a patient's best interest (beneficence), and promoting equity in health care (justice). Each physician should therefore be aware of possibly belonging to a preferred target group pharmaceutical sales promotion is aiming at. He should take an independent attitude while acquiring knowledge, and critically view the adequateness of free gifts he is offered. Even students of medicine should be encouraged to critically reflect on the necessary and essential relationship to pharmaceutical industries so that it may be moulded according to the benefit of the patients.
OBJECTIVE: To review strategies of transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) at creating a favourable advertising environment for their products in Hungary, with special regard to efforts resulting in the liberalisation of tobacco advertising in 1997. METHOD: Analysis of internal tobacco industry documents relevant to Hungary available on the World Wide Web. Transcripts of speeches of members of the Parliament during the debate of the 1997 advertising act were also reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: The tobacco companies not only entered the Hungarian market by early participation in the privatisation of the former state tobacco monopoly, but also imported theirsophisticated marketing experiences. Evasion and violation of rules in force, creation of new partnerships, establishment and use of front groups, finding effective ways for influencing decision makers were all parts of a well orchestrated industry effort to avoid a strict marketing regulation for tobacco products.
A convenience sample of all medical journals found in a medical clinic was reviewed for pharmaceutical advertisements. Ads were present in 25 (96%) of the 26 journals. Ad space varied from 0-34% (mean 12) in research, and 9-48% (mean: 36) in nonresearch journals. In 23 (88%) journals, individual ads consisted of more than one page. Colorful glossy insert-ads, of up to nine pages, were seen in 18 (69%) journals. Six (23%) journals contained more advertising than editorial pages. Many ads were longer than the longest article in that journal. Medical journals devote considerable space to pharmaceutical ads. Excessive pharmaceutical advertising may bias the journals' owners and readers and may be distracting and annoying.
The process of choosing and prescribing prescription drugs is complex. While the choice about which drug to prescribe is made by the physician, the physician may be influenced by patient demand, which, in turn, may be influenced by consumer advertisements. As a result, consumer advertisements for prescription drugs need to provide information that gives consumers an understanding, not only of drug risks and efficacy but also of the notable limits on benefits claimed. This Article examines the drug-specific focus of consumer advertising for prescription drugs from two perspectives: the need to prevent confusion that could affect medical decisions about alternative treatments and the need to prevent misimpressions about the value of a drug that can create consumer demand on physicians and insurers for more expensive drugs than needed.
Medical advertisements in English newspapers between 1690 and 1750 were examined from the aspect of gender. Subjects considered were who read the advertisements, who bought the products advertised, what conditions and cures were described, what references there were to women and where and how the products were sold. The analysis shows that women continued to be very much involved in health care at a time when there was growing pressure from male professional physicians to establish superiority over popular healers, who were often female.
An examination by the Centers for Disease Control and the Research Triangle Institute concluded that "hard-to-reach" populations could be reached with AIDS prevention messages through the broadcast and print media and that a study should be undertaken to assess whether paid placement of these messages could have an effect on HIV-related behaviors. The recommended target population for a study of paid advertising would be sexually active 18-24-year-old black urban dwellers. Its behavioral objectives would include abstinence and safer sex practices. For any evaluation of a paid advertising campaign to be valid, there would have to be extensive audience profiling, research into the development of the message, pretesting of the message, and involvement of the community. The proposed study would include measurement of various "dosage" levels of paid advertising, use of a no-intervention comparison group, and a novel data collection technique. Although a specific target group and specific messages would be involved, the evaluation would make a substantial contribution to resolving the broader issue of whether and how mass media should be used directly or indirectly to change or reinforce health-related behaviors.
We examined number, size, design, and scientific approach of advertisements published in three dental journals between 1970 and 2004. For this purpose, the Schweizer Monatsschrift für Zahnmedizin (SMfZ), Zahnärztliche Mitteilungen (ZM; Ger many), and The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) were chosen. The January and July issues of each of the 35 volumes were analyzed. Of 28,711 pages, 7265.5 were identified as advertisements (JADA: 29.9%, SMfZ: 24.8%, ZM: 13.7%). While whole-page ads dominated in JADA (87.2%) and SMfZ (68.9%), ad-sizes were more balanced in ZM. During the observation period, the use of photographs increased, while that of drawings decreased. Images of products dominated as compared to pictures of the orofacial region. Citations from study results (SMfZ 3.3%: ZM 2.5%; JADA 5.5%) and diagrams/tables (SMfZ: 3.2%; ZM: 1.0%; JADA: 4.5%) were rarely used, and an appreciable number of cited references could not be identified (SMfZ: 16%, ZM: 18%). More than 80% of the identifiable cited references corroborated the claim made in the advertisement. However, a critical attitude towards ads in dental journals appears justified.
Physician advertising is a growing trend which, proponents contend, will bring needed reforms to health care. Among these reforms are better informed patients, reduction in the price of health care, improvement in the quality of care, and reduction in the incidence of malpractice litigation and the cost of malpractice insurance. I argue that physician advertising probably will not accomplish these goals. I also discuss problems with the intent, content, monitoring, and costs of advertising, along with how it may adversely affect the way physicians perceive one another.
This paper considers the effect of advertising on the sales of various brands of toothpaste. It has attempted to investigate the relationship between the level of sales of a brand and those of its competitors. Econometric estimations of the demand-function for toothpaste have been made and the authors have tried to determine the interrelationships between advertisement and toothpaste sales. The findings cast doubt upon the efficiency of the present system of competitive advertisement and suggest a possible alternative approach to the marketing of toothpaste which could increase sales and, at the same time, beneficially influence dental health.