Which countries permit Rx drug ads on television?

Q: How many countries in the world allow prescription drug commercials on television?

A: 2.

Q: Which ones?

A; The U.S. and New Zealand. Don't bitch, reference Forbes and CBC News.

And this is, of course, great for drug companies, advertising agencies and television networks in the U.S. The latter have come to depend more and more on the revenues of those ads.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, direct-to-consumer advertising increased by 330 percent in the ten year period after 1996.

Now the FDA plans to study how 2,000 people react to television drug ads, to determine whether they have an overwhelmingly positive impression of products despite audio warnings about potential side effects.

Kind of interesting that it took the FDA ten years to make that decision. And that virtually none of the other industrialized countries have followed the U.S.

- Peter Rost, M.D. is a former VP of Pfizer and the author of Killer Drug and The Whistleblower.

Comments

[Anonymous]

Bullshit. I've seen drug commercials on TV in practically alle the countries I've visited: Norway, Spain, Germany, England, Japan, Hong Kong SAR and China to mention some.

[muaddib420]

maybe they meant "prescription drug" ads.

[Mario Aeby]

Mario from Switzerland calling: Seen countless drug ads here on Swiss TV. What I haven't seen yet though are ads for prescribed drugs.

[aggieben]

And guess how many countries really truly value and protect freedom of speech?

1.

[Canuck]

I'm Canadian and we also have drug ads.

What's your source for your "information"?

[skoops]

Germany and Austria have drug ads too - Your article is INCORRECT

[rarrrrr]

Mexico has prescription drug ads on TV

[jdoe]

aggieben: Yeah, like, in 1775 you ignorant prick.

[amila]

Actually, in Canada drug ads are allowed but "...they can advertise the name of a product or say what it treats. But they cannot do both at the same time."

So it's just more regulated...
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/health/directads/

I'm sure it's similar to those other countries people have mentioned.

[tikiloungelizard]

New Zealand has a government-managed single buyer prescription drug program, from what I understand. In fact, it's even harder on drug companies than Australia is. What good would it do drug companies to advertise on TV in NZ?

[agitprop]

Yup, there are drug ads in Canada. And, as far as I've seen, all over the world.

Sure, we all dislike them, but spreading false information actually just makes things worse, and muddies what should be a clear issue.

[Jonny]

This is bullshit. Everywhere in Europe they're legal. But at least you got on reddit.

[schtum]

Are there drug ads in Canada?

[schtum]

Aww, the quintuple post I was mocking disappeared.

[Peter Rost]

The U.S. is one of two industrialized countries that permit TV drug ads - the other is New Zealand.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/21/ap4041735.html

Only the United States and New Zealand allow drug makers to advertise directly to consumers.

In Canada, pharmaceutical companies are permitted to either advertise the name of a drug, without making any claims about its use, or advertise a medical condition and remind readers, listeners or viewers that if they have this condition they can seek help from their doctors.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/08/16/drug-advertising.html

[utro]

Add Denmark to the list of countries which show drug ads on tv.

[Nom]

Utro, on TV stations sending from Denmark? No.

[tristanp]

even though drug companies can advertise in new zealand, most dont , the ones i do recall stated "ask your doctor if ##### is right for you " no real disclaimers at the end of the add either

[Mike]

America is the land of money. Everything is valid in the name of Gold! You want to destroy the planet? No problem, just show me the money. Money is the only thing that matters in America. The rest is crap.

[evilbob]

In Australia they show them too. Not many but they are there. May be a similar system as the one in Canada described by jdoe. They can mention the name of the drug or the treatment it provides but not both.

[willlllly wonnnnnnnnnnnka]

I can't recall seeing adverts on Austrlian tv for prescription drugs - only just panandol/nurofen/cough medicines/over the counter drugs - if proplems persist, please see your doctor.

[Dan Smith]

I'm sorry, but this is exactly why you can't always believe what you read.

The article was written by a staff Associated Press writer. The statement is unattributed, it just hangs out there with no support and no context. So yes, it's an easy & fun statement to parrot and claim as true, but obviously the writer made a mistake.

So this blog entry's writer should correct his claim, since it's already been shown to be untrue by responders to this thread.

[Andrew Griffith]

So, out of all this, what we've discovered is that the original post was CORRECT. We also discovered that people are too stupid to understand the difference between advertising PRESCRIPTION DRUGS on television and advertising OVER THE COUNTER DRUGS. In response to the original question and response a whole slew of people made all sorts of overly emotional claims that companies "advertise drugs all over the world" -- but now we've found out that they were either too stupid to read the original question and answer correctly, or were lying. But, the big question for me is: why such a HUGE and emotional response to the question? After all, it's only drug ads. Oh yea, drug companies pay people to post on the Internet, I forgot for a second. Sorry.

[Andrew Griffith]

And, Dan Smith is probably the stupidest of all the people I alluded to above, because he read all the posts ... and then decided that they DISPROVED the original post, when they actually SUPPORTED the original post. So, I know one thing about him for sure ... he's American, because only an American could be that dumb.

[co]

omfg hATE VIVA vagria stuff