Disclaimers, Interpretation and Effects of

The United States is one of the few countries that allows mass media advertising of prescription pharmaceuticals (direct to consumer advertising). Spending on such advertisements increased from about $1 billion to 1997 to more than $4 billion in 2005, in response to less restrictive guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Those countries that do allow for prescription medicine advertising adopt various restrictions. For instance, in Canada, a medical condition and a prescription medication for that condition cannot both be mentioned in the same commercial, which creates two subtypes of commercials: those promoting a particular medication without saying what it does, and those promoting awareness of a particular medical condition and directing viewers to a Web site with more information, including the name of ...